Kira Akerman

Roles: Director

Kira Akerman lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and works as an educator and documentary filmmaker. Hollow Tree is her debut feature film and won a Jury Prize at the New Orleans Film Festival. Her recent essay Filmmaking as a Classroom: A Documentary Practice for the Climate Crisis describes her and her team’s process. Hollow Tree was selected for the Sundance Institute’s 2019 Talent Forum, the Gotham Lab, and the Climate Story Lab. Previously, she directed and produced the short “Station 15,” (PBS, 2017), winner of an Audience Award at the New Orleans Film Festival and The Reel South Award at Indie Grits. Screenings included a Smithsonian exhibit, Sheffield Doc/Fest, The Climate Museum, the UN Global Climate Summit, and DOCNYC. Kira directed and produced the short, “The Arrest,” (The Atlantic, 2018). Screenings included The Camden International Film Festival, MOMA, and The Ford Foundation Gallery. Prior to directing, Kira worked on art departments, including a visual effects unit mentored by Doug Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey), and as a producer for commercials and shorts, including “In the Wake” (dir. Cauleen Smith). Kira works as a media and learning consultant with the educational nonprofit Ripple Effect, which is pioneering water literacy in k-12 education, and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University.

2023 Program(s):

Hollow Tree