Contessa Gayles (she/her) is an award-winning film director, writer, director of photography, editor, and an Emmy-nominated producer. She tells stories about identity, socio-political movement, healing, Black liberation, and the radical imagination. Her films include the documentary-visual album Songs From The Hole (SXSW Audience Award, 2024), The Debutantes (Tribeca Film Festival, 2024), Founder Girls (BET, 2023), and The Feminist On Cellblock Y (CNN, 2018).