Six women behind this year’s Oscar-nominated films shared insights and clips of their work at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Women’s Panel, marking one of the final highlights of the festival’s closing day.

The panel featured Emily Kassie, director of “Sugarcane;” Paula DuPré Pesmen, producer of “Porcelain War;” Smriti Mundhra, director of “I am Ready, Warden;” Diane Warren, songwriter for “The Six Triple Eight;” Suchitra Mattai, producer of “Anuja;” and Victoria Warmerdam, director/writer of “I’m Not a Robot.”

The discussion was moderated for the 23rd year by Madelyn Hammond.

“Anuja” is the first short film created by Mattai and her director/husband Adam Graves, and thanks to the support of actors Priyanka Chopra and Mindy Kaling Anuja has secured Netflix distribution.

Nominated for Best Live Action Short, the film sheds light on child labor in India but really tells the story of a bond between sisters.

“When I heard the alarming statistic of how many children are subjected to child labor, I knew we had to tell that story,” said Mattai. “I center my work on women and am interested in sharing the stories that haven’t been told.”

The project holds personal resonance for Mattai, whose family history includes indentured labor. This connection drove her decision to cast from within the local community, leading to the discovery of Sajda Pathan, who plays Anuja, at The Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO that had rescued the young actress from life on the streets.

“Porcelain War” found its way to producer Paula DuPré Pesmen through a mutual friend, and tells the extraordinary story of three Ukrainian artists who continue their craft just nine miles from the frontlines of the Russian invasion.

By day, they train civilians in combat and self-defense; by night, they create delicate porcelain figurines – their artistry a resistance against the backdrop of war.

“When I saw the photos of their work it was so different from anything I’d ever seen,” said Pesmen. “It’s not what you think of when you think of war – it’s the human side, showing the beauty of everything that is worth fighting for – the culture, the arts, humanity, nature, the environment.”

The film came together through a challenging web of collaboration: cameras smuggled through Poland, footage uploaded during brief windows when there was power, and a dedicated team of ten translators bridging the language divide.

As a former investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who grew up among Holocaust survivors, Emily Kassie was “gut-pulled” to a different kind of hidden truth.

When news broke of hundreds of unmarked graves at a residential school in her native Toronto, Canada, she felt compelled to investigate the systematic separation and abuse of indigenous children in assimilation schools.

She reached out to former coworker Julian Brave NoiseCat to collaborate, and in what seemed like divine timing, Kassie simultaneously received a call back from St. Joseph’s Mission seeking someone to document their search for unmarked graves.

Brave said that not only had his family attended that very school, but he had heard rumors that his father was born there. Out of 139 assimilated schools in Canada and 417 in the United States, their search led them to the very institution where Brave’s father’s life began.

“This is not just a story of trauma,” Kassie said. “It’s a story of reclamation, and rebuilding and taking back what was attempted to be destroyed.

“Many communities across North America have found immense healing through this film and have finally started to speak for the first time about what happened to them.”

Legendary songwriter Diane Warren, a 17-time Oscar nominee, returned to the panel to discuss “The Journey,” her Best Original Score contender for Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight,” a film chronicling the untold story of the women who delivered mail across wartime Europe.

“From the sizzle reel and hearing the story of what happened, I started writing the chords and the chorus wrote itself,”  said Warren. “That doesn’t usually happen and I knew when I wrote it that this could be one of the best songs I ever wrote in my life and I think it is.”

“The universe brought the right artist to me,” she said of vocalist Gabi Wilson (known professionally as H.E.R.), who performs the song for the movie. The two had met years before and recently reconnected at just the right time.

Victoria Warmerdam, director/writer of “I’m Not a Robot,” said the idea for the short came to her when she was struggling to fill out the ubiquitous captcha verification on a website to prove that she was not a robot.

As she continuously failed, her mind entertained the concept of “what if I am actually a robot?”

What began as a humorous premise evolved into a darker exploration of consciousness and identity.

“There were so many deeper questions that started to surface,” Warmerdam said. “What makes us human? What is free will? In a way, we are all programmed by our upbringing, the people we meet, and where we were born.”

The 22-minute short proved to be just the beginning. Warmerdam is now developing the film into a feature-length project, noting, “I am not finished with the characters and their universe yet.”

Smriti Mundhra who received an Emmy nomination for “Indian Matchmaking” is now nominated for an Oscar for directing “I am Ready, Warden,” a story ostensibly about capital punishment and the death penalty.

Mundhra said she was drawn “to making something that asks the audience the potent question: do we actually believe in forgiveness and the idea of redemption, rather than did he or didn’t he commit the crime?”

The film follows the true story of John Henry Ramirez, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the state of Texas. During his incarceration, Ramirez tries to reach out to his victim’s son while also preparing to say goodbye to his family.

“The transformation from who Ramirez was at 19 when he committed the murder to who he became in his thirties was profound,” Mundhra said. “I was struck by his deep remorse and his struggle to adequately convey these feelings to his victim’s family.”

The film captures what Mundhra describes as “the most intense vérité moment” she has ever documented: Aaron Castro, the victim’s son, receiving news of Ramirez’s execution.

The film recently screened at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center to more than 100 prisoners, including several on death row, and Mundhra said the response was astonishing.

“You always hope your work will have an impact,” she said. “But to hear men talk about how they felt seen in a way they had never felt seen before, and feeling like forgiveness was possible for them was one of the most profound experiences of my career.”

And that’s a wrap. The 40th SBIFF Film Festival closed on Saturday evening.