Katiana Weems-ado is a Black American multidisciplinary filmmaker from Baltimore, Maryland. Her films have been screened internationally in both theatrical and gallery spaces, and she is known for her work as a cinematographer, director, and editor. Thematically, her image-making is rooted in temporal explorations of grief and memoria—its stickiness and porosity.
As an educator, her pedagogical concerns extend beyond form and mode to focus on the collective affect of filmmaking. How do we create together and in service of what? Her curriculum urges both herself and her students to ask this question often, collectively, and urgently. Throughout her career, she has served as a curriculum writer and instructor for multiple film courses at the Baltimore School of the Arts' Film & Visual Storytelling department, as well as a lecturer and adjunct professor within Goldsmiths’ Media & Communication Department and Towson University's Electronic Film & Media department. Outside of permanent positions, she has facilitated film-based workshops focusing on cinematography and visual storytelling. She promotes developing the skills necessary to communicate through film in ways that resonate with her and her communities.
Katiana holds an MFA (2024) from The Royal College of Art and a BFA (2020) from Syracuse University's Film Production Program, as well as an AA in Film Studies. While at the Royal College of Art, she developed Axiom24, a kinofuturist manifesto that formalizes her approach to filmmaking in pursuit of a truly collaborative and radically supportive industry. Through Axiom24, she aims to encourage filmmakers to actively question industry practices and employ circular, collaborative filmmaking practices to nurture and support both current and future practitioners.
Her dedication to innovative filmmaking has earned her recognition as a semi-finalist for the 2022 Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize, a fellowship with the 2023 iteration of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund, and an artist residency at The House of Koko in 2024/2025.
Katiana’s passion for storytelling and her commitment to a collaborative filmmaking process continue to drive her work. She is currently based in London.
