Kafia Haile is a filmmaker and the founder of Zenzele Pictures. Her stories are influenced by her family's move to Chicago during The Great Migration, their participation in the Black Power Movement, and her career as a cultural analyst in Iraq and the Pentagon.
Kafia's films address themes of redemption, the resilience of family, and rebellious individuals challenging unjust institutions. She directed staged readings of her play Pickin' Up Strays for the DC Black Theater Festival and Theater Alliance (Washington, DC). Most recently, Kafia was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship Semifinalist, with her script SATTAR placing in the Top 50 Screenplays.
In addition to being a filmmaker, Kafia is a visual artist with work featured at the 2012 International AIDS Conference and They Reminisce Over You: We Are Troy Davis, an art exhibition drawing attention to racial disparities in the U.S. legal system.
Kafia is a graduate of Spelman College, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
Kafia's films address themes of redemption, the resilience of family, and rebellious individuals challenging unjust institutions. She directed staged readings of her play Pickin' Up Strays for the DC Black Theater Festival and Theater Alliance (Washington, DC). Most recently, Kafia was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship Semifinalist, with her script SATTAR placing in the Top 50 Screenplays.
In addition to being a filmmaker, Kafia is a visual artist with work featured at the 2012 International AIDS Conference and They Reminisce Over You: We Are Troy Davis, an art exhibition drawing attention to racial disparities in the U.S. legal system.
Kafia is a graduate of Spelman College, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
"I remember how excited I was as a kid when my mother took me to see Kenny Leon in BLOODKNOT to get a better understanding of the impact of apartheid in South Africa. Then there were the nights at home when my father sat us down to watch movies like BATTLE OF ALGIERS and DRY WHITE SEASON. It was important to my parents that we become sensitized to the experiences of oppressed people. It's what I hope to achieve in my own films.”
