Meet Kaelo Iyizoba, One of Black Cinema's Brightest New Voices.

By Oluwaseun Mary

Kaelo Iyizoba is one of the young Black filmmakers steadily carving out a distinctive voice in contemporary cinema. Kaelo is a Nigerian-American writer, director and producer who has built a reputation for creating emotionally rich stories that explore identity, memory and human connection with striking visual confidence.

Kaelo is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Film program, Iyizoba has earned recognition as one of BuzzFeed's four up-and-coming Black filmmakers shaping the future of the industry. 

His growing list of accolades includes the Arthur Krim Award for Excellence in Producing, the Blackhouse-Meta Fellowship, and the Facebook SEEN Future Filmmaker Grant. He also joined a panel at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022.

His body of work like, Boy Meets Girl won Outstanding Experimental Film at the 2021 Abuja International Film Festival, while Nkemefuna (What Is Mine Cannot Be Lost) premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival before screening at the New York African Film Festival at Lincoln Center.

As a producer, his short film Enloquecer screened at Palm Springs ShortFest and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick. His television pilot II also received Columbia University's highest screenwriting honour, Faculty Selects.

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Now, Iyizoba is reaching another major milestone. His latest film, The Spectacular Death of Prisca—described as a love letter to Nollywood—will make its world premiere at TIFF 2026, marking another exciting chapter in a career that continues to push boundaries and place African storytelling on the global stage.