Michèle Delgado Stephenson

Filmmaker, artist, and author, Michèle Delgado Stephenson, pulls from her Haitian and Panamanian roots to think radically about storytelling and disrupt the conventional imaginary. She tells emotionally driven personal stories of resistance and identity that center on the lived experiences of communities of color in the Americas and the Black diaspora. Her stories intentionally reimagine and provoke thought about how we engage with and dismantle the internalized impact of systemic oppression. Michèle draws on fiction, immersive, and hybrid forms of storytelling to build her worlds and narratives. Her feature documentary, GOING TO MARS won the 2023 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and was selected for the Oscars shortlist, and her earlier feature, American Promise, was nominated for three Emmys and won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance. Her feature documentary, STATELESS premiered at the Tribeca Festival and was nominated for a Canadian Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Michèle also co-directed the magical realist virtual reality trilogy series on racial terror, THE CHANGING SAME, which was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Interactive Media Innovative Category and premiered at Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Narrative at the Tribeca Film Festival. Along with her writing partners, Joe Brewster and Hilary Beard, they won an NAACP Image Award for Excellence in a Literary Work for their book, Promises Kept. Michèle is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, a Guggenheim Artist Fellow, and a Creative Capital Artist. After a distinguished career directing non-fiction, Michèle is excited to embark on her first directorial venture into fiction with her new project OSHUN AND MY GRANDMOTHER, a thrilling transition that builds upon her producing experience in fiction.