Iyabo Kwayana, MFA

Iyabo Kwayana  teaches filmmaking at Dartmouth College.  She earned an MFA in Film Production (a dual track of Cinematography and Directing) from UCLA, where her student film “Macarrão” was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award, and  an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University.

Iyabo is a filmmaker whose career spans from serving as Director of photography for fiction films, to Director or co-cinematographer/ production team member for award-winning documentaries, such as the Visions du Réel-premiered Practice and the Locarno-premiered Palenque. She has directed and edited archival experimental films that leverage minstrel imagery and NASA footage to articulate personal trauma and catharsis.

Her most recent short “By Water” is currently on the festival circuit, including having had screenings at BlackStar Film Festival, Sundance, and New Orleans as well as upcoming screenings including SILFF, Hot Docs, and Goma International Film Festival. That film will be featured on POV’s America Reframed after its festival run.  Her work has been exhibited around the world at such venues as the Museum of the Moving Image and has been recognized by entities such as BAFTA.  The post film festival streaming debut of her film Practice premiered on Criterion in July of 2021.  Iyabo  has presented at prestigious forums like the Black Women’s Film Conference.