Karimah Zakia Issa is an emerging director and passionate storyteller based in Toronto and London, UK.

Her most recent project, LANES ‘20 (for the City of Toronto) is an educational, narrative dance piece that explores responsibility and participation in present day social justice movements.

SCARING WOMEN AT NIGHT, a short film adapted from Ace Clamber’s short story of the same title - explores how our perceived gender informs our interactions in the world and the implications of those socializations following his medical transition. It premiered at TIFF 2022. During the pandemic, she has also directed, shot and edited ‘Interlude-19’, a visual album for STORRY.

Her identity as a queer, black woman is inherently woven into everything she does, but make no mistake - it’s far from all that defines her. Her jam is crafting stories that dive into themes of overcoming social expectations, how self worth is built and broken and the dark truths that live within us all.