Daresha Kyi is a renowned Emmy award-winning director, writer, and producer of films and television programming in both Spanish and English. With a strong educational background from the New York University Film School, she has created a wide range of narratives and documentaries throughout her career.
Daresha's most recent feature documentaries include One Person, One Vote, where she served as a producer, and The Turning Point: Battleground Georgia for MSNBC, which she directed. Her second feature documentary, Mama Bears, released in 2022, explores the transformative journey of conservative, Christian mothers who come to accept their LGBTQ children.
In 2018, Daresha was commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to direct Trans In America: Texas Strong, a documentary that garnered over 5 million online views, screened at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, and won two Webby Awards and an Emmy for "Outstanding Short Documentary".
Daresha co-directed and produced Chavela, a multiple award-winning documentary about the iconic singer Chavela Vargas, which was distributed by Music Box Pictures and screened in over 40 countries. The documentary was ranked as the number 1 Latin American documentary of the decade by Cine Arte magazine and won numerous best documentary and audience awards worldwide.
Her producing credits include Kristina Wong's How Not to Pick Up Asian Women (2015),Kevin Avery's The Whizz (2014),and his short comedy, Thugs, The Musical (2011). Daresha's early work includes her award-winning narrative short, Land Where My Fathers Died, which earned her a full fellowship from Tri-Star Pictures to attend the directors' program at the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory in 1992.
As a student at NYU, Daresha wrote, directed, and produced her first award-winning drama, The Thinnest Line. Her films have been funded by various organizations, including the Independent Television Service (ITVS),National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA),New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA),Jerome Foundation, and others. Her work has screened at over 40 festivals nationally and internationally, including the Berlinale.
Daresha has been a fellow in several prestigious programs, including the A Blade of Grass, Firelight Media Documentary Lab, Chicken & Egg Eggcelerator Lab, NY Film Artists Academy, and Creative Capital cohorts. She has also produced programming for various networks, including FX, WE, AMC, Telemundo, and FUSE.
