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Kaelo Iyizoba has been selected as one of the inaugural fellows for the Sundance Institute Cultural Impact Residency, a six-month online program supporting underrepresented early-career storytellers.
The residency is divided into three tracks: writing-directing in fiction, nonfiction, and episodic. Iyizoba was selected in the Writing category, joining seven other fellows chosen for the program.
As part of the residency, Iyizoba will develop Birthright, a historical fiction project set in 19th-century Nigeria. The story follows a man secretly profiting from the slave trade after being saved as a child by ancient gods. As British colonialism and Christianity spread, he must choose between survival and defending the gods who once protected him.
His work often explores deep social themes, as seen in Boy Meets Girl, an award-winning short film inspired by the Chibok kidnappings. The film screened at the Bolton Film Festival and won Outstanding Experimental Film at the Abuja International Film Festival. He followed that with another short film Nkemefuna which premiered at the 2022 Phoenix Film Festival and screened at the New York African Film Festival. His thesis film, Mr. Bold, was shortlisted for the BAFTA Student Award. In 2023, he joined the Berlinale Talents program.
Iyizoba will receive mentorship from Sundance advisors, bi-monthly cohort meetings, a session with Michelle Satter (Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs), and access to Sundance Collab’s extensive educational resources, including its Video Library and On-Demand courses.
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