Jessica Beshir

Jessica Beshir is a Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker interested in cinema that moves freely in the spaces beyond genre categories, between the physical and the spiritual worlds while anchored in socio-political concerns found in the textures of ordinary life. Her films have screened at New Directors/New Films, Rotterdam Film Festival, BFI, MoMI, Fespaco and IDFA among others. Her feature debut, Faya Dayi, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and screened around the world garnering multiple awards including the Truer Than Fiction Award at the Independent Spirits (2022), the Grand Jury Prize & Fipresci Awards at Visions du Reel (2021), the Grand Jury Prize at the Full Frame Film Festival (2021), won best Cinematography awards at the ASC (2022), IDA (2021), DOC NYC (2021) and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards (2022). Faya Dayi was released theatrically in North America by Janus Films, broadcast nationally on POV’s 35th season on PBS (2022) and was released in Europe & Latin America by Mubi. Her short films He Who Dances on Wood, Hairat, and Heroin can be seen at the Criterion Channel. Beshir has been honored with grant support from the Jerome Foundation, Sundance Institute, the Doha Film Institute and NYSCA.