Filmmaker Bios
Bruno Kohfield-Galeano - Editor/Producer
Bruno Kohfield-Galeano began making short films at the age of 8 years old in Park City, UT. At 18 years old he wrote a screenplay which he directed in 2016. Bruno directed a documentary about his aunt Jill who is intellectually disabled and endured abuse in group homes. This short documentary, "The Quality of Life," has garnered over a quarter million views on Youtube. Bruno has worked as an editor and cinematographer on many projects including short films, sports events, podcasts, documentary and feature length narratives. In 2017 Bruno and his wife, Nicole were selected by the Filmmakers Alliance to create a short film in the course of 72 hours. This film was called "The Blinking Game," and became a hit success after its screening at the original Canon screening room on Sunset Blvd. and is now available on Amazon Prime. Bruno produced, edited, and was cinematographer on the experimental feature film, "Brother Side of the Wake," which screened in New York, Ann Arbor, and Los Angeles. Bruno is the editor and producer of "Gods As My Friends," and has been working on projects with Nicole since 2016. He has done some cinematography on "Gods As My Friends" as well, for interviews post Jacqui's death.
Esther Ancrum - Co-Producer
Esther Ancrum, born March 30, discovered her passion for filmmaking while in middle school. She enjoyed making short films with her classmates and realized that films were as fun to make as they were to watch. Her father has been in the film industry for over 40 years in set lighting. He is one of Esther's biggest inspirations because she remembers all of the wonderful memories of him taking her to the film sets he worked on when she was just a child. She was producer with Nicole on her other documentary, "Behind the Fear," which came out in 2016. She helped Nicole produce interviews for the documentary "Gods As my Friends," post Jacqui's death.
Dario Antepara - Animation and Titles
Dario Antepara is a filmmaker and animation artist based in Hollywood, California.He created 3D animations for Disney Junior online games and his clients include Jordan Belfort, the real wolf of wall street; Telemundo, and Channel 22 KWHY-TV Los Angeles.
Jacqueline and Nicole Zwiren - Directors
Jacqui and Nicole - Directors/Producers of "Gods As my Friends"
Jacqui was a very special woman. Her life was cut short at age 31 when she committed suicide. Nicole, her sister begin filming Jacqui while in middle school when Jacqui was 15 in 1995. It became apparent that Jacqui had a mental illness when she went off to college. She dropped out of Brown University to become a Buddhist nun, but got kicked out of the monastery on account of her odd behavior. This behavior was due to a fanciful idea that she would waste away, die, and then go to hell, if she could not reach the next level of enlightenment. She was always the one who inspired Nicole and kept her mind churning. Despite the diagnosis of Schizoeffective disorder her mind was brilliant and she was the real director of the documentary, "The Gods As My Friends." Nicole was just a vessel through which Jacqui's spirit worked to complete the film.
Though her time on this earth seemed short, she accomplished so much more than many people could accomplish in entire life spans. Jacqui said she felt like she had lived so many different lifetimes within her lifetime. She thought she was aware of who she was in many of her past lives, and went by different names to different religious circles. Janakee was her nun name. Or sometimes it was Damikah. Miriam was her Hebrew name.
Jacqueline Zwiren helped produce the film with her younger sister, Nicole.
We hope that this motion picture film is the greatest inspiration to those who experience suffering here on this earth.
Jacqui's official music Bio
Hey there music lovers--Jacqui here!! I wrote all the songs on "Glued to the Nude," and created all the artwork as well. The arrangement of the songs as well as some of the recurring themes mirror the paintings on the front and back of the album--a dyptic done in oil paint. The "nude" is inspired by Mary Magdalene (an early disciple of Jesus portrayed many times with red hair) and the faces "glued" to her could be either her demons (which Jesus expelled), or her many lovers (some believe she was a prostitute). But you probably know all about Mary Magdalene already, so now i'll tell you something about me. My main musical influences are Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Antony Hegarty, and Melissa Etheridge. Spiritually, i follow the paths of Siddhattha Gotama (the Buddha), and Yeshua Ben Yosef (Jesus Christ). I come from a family of Ashkenazi Jews. My favorite visual artists are Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo, and all of the early Dada-Surrealists. So now you know everything!! I hope you enjoy our album!!
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Nicole Zwiren - Official Bio
Nicole Zwiren is a Los Angeles native who worked professionally as a sound-mixer and designer from 2009 to 2019 and has been involved in the film industry for over ten years. She has experience in low budget indies as well as working on top shows like the new Twin Peaks and Supergirl.
After graduating Cum Laude from UCLA, Nicole graduated with her Master in Fine Arts from Dodge College of Film and Media Arts (Chapman University graduate school) majoring in Sound Design. She won the Cecil Graduate Award for Best Sound Design for her thesis film, "Jeremy," about a boy discovering his religion. She made a short documentary while at Chapman called "Denialism, the Death of AIDS," narrated by Ed Asner, which won the award for "Best Documentary" at the Student International Film Festival, Hollywood in 2010. She later went on to make the feature-length film "Behind the Fear, the hidden story of HIV," (also narrated by Ed Asner) which premiered at the Awareness Festival in Los Angeles, received a "Making a Difference" award at the Commffest Film Festival in 2016 in Toronto, and won Best Documentary at the Cinema New York City Film Festival in 2016.
Nicole released a 14 track country rock album in 2009 with her late sister Jacqueline Zwiren entitled "Glued to the Nude." Nicole also sings on the credit song in the 2018 film "The Quality of Love," Directed by her husband Bruno Kohfield-Galeano.
Nicole is also known for her charitable work, volunteering for various community organizations and programs as well as organizing some of her own. She was Co-Chair for the South Robertson Green Team in 2015 and created the event, "Basketball for Peace" in 2015.
She has now taken up a new career path as a union electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11, Inside Wireman Classification.