Kwame Asante

Documentary filmmaker and media critic from Brooklyn. His first feature — about gentrification in Bed-Stuy told through the eyes of a 90-year-old barbershop owner — won a Tribeca jury prize and got him called "the most exciting voice in American documentary" by IndieWire, which he finds embarrassing. Has since made films about bail reform, Black farming cooperatives, and the gig economy. Writes about storytelling, media representation, why most documentaries are propaganda with better cinematography, and the ethics of filming people's pain. Teaches a seminar at NYU Tisch called "Who Gets to Tell Whose Story." Grew up in the Bronx, son of Ghanaian immigrants, collects vinyl and argues about hip-hop production with the intensity of a theology debate.