As an actor, director, writer, producer, librettist, mentor, and educator, Kasi Lemmons is one of the most powerful voices of our time. Her first feature, “Eve’s Bayou,” is considered one of the essential works of the 1990s and in 2017 was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. Her second film, “The Caveman's Valentine,” starring Samuel Jackson, opened the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Lemmons’ third feature “Talk to Me”, starring Don Cheadle, earned the 2008 NAACP Image Award for outstanding directing. Her fourth film, “Black Nativity,” was released nationwide on Thanksgiving 2013. In 2019, Lemmons’ fifth film, “Harriet,” starring Cynthia Erivo as the iconic freedom fighter, was nominated for two Oscars, including Best Actress. Her first libretto, “Fire Shut Up In My Bones,” composed by Terence Blanchard, opened The Metropolitan Opera’s ’21-’22 season, the first opera by an African-American composer and librettist ever performed at The Met. Her sixth film, “Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” opened Christmas ’22 and was #1 on Netflix during its debut weekend. Lemmons is an Arts Professor in the Graduate Film Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.