Iquo B. Essien is a Nigerian-American writer and director. Her short film Aissa s Story was nominated for the 2013 Student Academy Awards, 2015 Africa Movie Academy Awards, and won Best Student Short at the 2014 Africa International F ilm Festival. She adapted the short into a feature film while writing a memoir, Elizabeth s Daughter, about losing her mother to cancer. Ms. Essien s films have screened worldwide, including at the Panafrican Film & Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the Durban International Film Festival, New York African Film Festival, and Zanzibar International Film Festival. Ms. Essien received a B.S. from Stanford University and a Master s of Fine Arts degree in Film from New York University s Tisch School of the Arts. Her production company, Editi Films, is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. Iquo B. Essien is a multimedia storyteller and marketing consultant. Her short film, Aissa s Story, was a regional semifinalist in the 2013 Student Academy Awards. Essien drafted a debut novel, Alligator Legs, for which she received a 2009 Hedgebrook Writers Residency. She has contributed to Gawker, Guernica, Shadow & Act, Okayafrica, The African Magazine, PopMatters, and the Stanford Black Arts Quarterly. Essien attended Stanford University and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program. Her production company, Editi Films, is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a charitable organization that helps artists and art organizations create engaging, publicly beneficial work.