Mama Bears


Daresha Kyi writes, produces, and directs film and television in Spanish and English. Her documentary work centers around examinations of the intersection of politics, gender and sexuality and profiles of bad ass women. She also creates compelling personal narratives.

Artist Bio

Mama Bears explores how the lives of conservative, Christian mothers are utterly transformed when they decide to accept their LGBTQ children—no matter the cost. As members of private Facebook groups, they offer one another support in the struggle to overcome their anti-LGBTQ beliefs.


Award Year
2019
Status

Completed


kyi-daresha-01

Daresha Kyi

Atlanta, GA

Daresha Kyi writes, produces, and directs film and television in Spanish and English. Kyi co-directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary Chavela with Catherine Gund, which won the 2nd place Panorama Audience Award at the Berlinale, Jury Awards for Best Documentary at numerous festivals, including Outfest, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Documentary. Kyi and Gund also co-produced Dispatches from Cleveland, a documentary examining the myriad issues facing the residents of one of the most racially divided cities in America. Kyi wrote, directed, and co-starred with Isaiah Washington in the award-winning short, “Land Where My Fathers Died.” Kyi was Executive Producer of Kevin Avery’s short comedy, Thugs The Musical starring Margaret Cho and David Alan Grier, a satirical take on The Wiz called The Whizz, starring an (almost) all-white cast for Fusion Comedy, and the web series Kristina Wong’s How Not to Pick Up Asian Women. She has produced television for FX, WE, AMC, Oxygen, E!, Telemundo, Bravo, and FUSE, among others and was a fellow in the Firelight Media Documentary Lab. Kyi holds a degree in Film and Television from New York University and attended the directing program at the American Film Institute conservatory.

Photo credit: Naylon D. Mitchell