Crystal Kayiza

Crystal Kayiza was raised in Oklahoma and is now a Brooklyn-based filmmaker. Named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” she is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship, Sundance Ignite Fellowship and Creative Culture Woman Filmmaker Fellowship. Her most recent film, Rest Stop, was awarded the Jury Prize for Best US Short Film at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Rest Stop was the winner of the 2020 Tribeca Through Her Lens grant and premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Crystal is also the recipient of the 2022 Documentary Development Initiative grant in partnership with HBO Documentary Films and The Gotham. Her short, “See You Next Time,” was an official selection of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and released by The New Yorker. Her film, Edgecombe, was an official selection of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by POV. She is currently working on her first feature film, which received the 2021 Creative Capital Award.