Kayla Briët

Kayla Briët is a filmmaker and composer exploring themes of belonging in multiple mediums of storytelling. She is the director of Smoke That Travels (2016), an award-winning short film that immerses viewers in her Prairie Band Potawatomi heritage. Through intimate live performances, she shares stories through wave-like vocals and live looping—mixing electronic beats with the strings of a Chinese guzheng zither and blending multi-cultural influences. She has scored Dear Georgina, a follow up to the Emmy award-winning film DAWNLAND (2018). Her work has been exhibited by MoMA, SWAIA, PBS, SXSW and her film has been archived by the Smithsonian Institute in DC. Kayla was a 2018 MacArthur Foundation x Sundance New Frontier Fellow, 2017 TED Fellow, Smithsonian 'Ae Kai Artist, and MIT Chamber Scholar. As a 2022 Asian Cultural Council Fellow, she will research expressions of asian and indigenous futurisms as well as truth and reconciliatory practices in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Across virtual reality installations, live performances, film, scoring, she aims to illustrate multi-cultural perspectives and shine light on the indigenous and diaspora communities she grew up in.