Katerina Cizek

Katerina Cizek is a two-time Emmy-winning director, creator and pioneer in digital media. She is leading a new initiative at the MIT Open Documentary Lab called Co-Creation Studio. Her work has documented the Digital Revolution, and has itself become part of the movement. For a decade at the National Film Board of Canada, she helped redefine the organization as one of the world's leading digital content hubs. She was the director and creative force behind the NFB's award-winning digital documentary project HIGHRISE, and she realized the acclaimed NFB Filmmaker-in-Residence program (both with Producer Gerry Flahive). Cizek has built collaborations with people from all walks of life, working with community, academic and media partners to co-create media for social justice, including a group of young homeless parents, The New York Times, Mozilla Foundation, a prominent private architecture firm, as well as leading YouTube stars. Her projects are also interventionist, and participatory: they have significantly contributed to conversations about health-care policy, urban planning as well as the health outcomes and living conditions of the participants themselves. Her work has been recognized with 2 Emmys, a Peabody Award, World Press Photo Prize, 3 Canadian Screen Awards, a Webby, amongst others.

Cizek's earlier independent films include the Hampton-Prize winner Seeing is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News (co-directed with Peter Wintonick). Her work has been seen by millions around the globe, through TV broadcasts and publishing on the web. She frequently runs workshops and teaches on innovative approaches to the documentary genre and digital media.