Cheryl Dunye

Cheryl Dunye is a world-renowned African-American director, writer and actor. She first emerged as part of the 1990's "queer new wave" of young film and video makers. Often set within a personal or domestic context, her stories foreground issues of race, sexuality and identity. Dunye's work is defined by her distinctive narrative voice, a fresh docu-fiction hybrid that has since been dubbed "Dunyementary" style.

Dunye has made over 15 films, including "Mommy Is Coming," "The Owls," "My Baby's Daddy" and HBO's "Stranger Inside," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and garnered her an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Director. Her debut feature film, "The Watermelon Woman," was awarded the Teddy at the Berlinale in 1996, and was restored by Outfest's UCLA Legacy Project to commemorate the film's 20th anniversary. In 2015, Dunye’s multiple-award-winning short film "Black is Blue" was named one of the top five “Must-See Feminist Films” by IndieWire.

Dunye has received numerous accolades and honors for her work, which include a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship.

In recent years, Dunye has entered a new wave of her career as a director for episodic television, first by joining Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey for two episodes on season two of OWN’s “Queen Sugar.” Since then, her other directing credits include a slate of popular shows, such as “Claws” for TNT, “The Fosters” for Freeform, “Love Is_” for OWN, “The Chi” for Showtime, “Star” for Fox, “Dear White People” for Netflix, “David Makes Man” for OWN, “Lovecraft Country” for HBO, and “All Rise” for CBS, among others.