Malakai is a Director, artist & philanthropist on a mission to spin world-building, fantastical narratives that disrupt archetypes of the black diaspora. A desert born Afropunk with a deep love of technology, her short films have premiered at Sundance, PAFF, Black American Film Festival and Cannes: POSTMARKED, executive produced by Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani as part of the 2019 AT&T Hello Lab Directing Fellowship and SOULS starring Tabitha Brown.

Malakai is committed to stories that matter with her signature spellbinding, soulful narratives and characters that vibrate with life, highlighting social issues with a clear point of view. She has released a documentary short behind the scenes of The Black Panther movement in support of Participant Media’s release of ‘Judas & The Black Messiah’. And shot Season 2 of Lena Waithe’s hit show ‘Twenties’, celebrating the representation of black LGBTQ+ characters on TV. A coming-of-age comedy testing the limits of diversity, love and inclusion.

Malakai is also the founder of Made In Her Image – a 501©3 non-profit empowering young girls and non-binary youth of colour to create future social equity within film, media and technology. She received a Community Service Award at SXSW 2020 for her real-world impact on diversity and creating hands on training and education. A previous Sundance Horizon Award Winner, Malakai also received the Contemporary Forum Artist Award from the Phoenix Art Museum for her film installation on death and mortality through the eyes of blackness.