Lisa Cortes

Award-winning director and producer Lisa Cortés generates bold, explosive art that shines light on important stories hidden from view. Little Richard: I Am Everything (CNN Films), which she directed and produced, had its world premiere in January 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival. Also premiering at Sundance was Invisible Beauty, the documentary about Black fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, which she produced. In June 2023, The Space Race (National Geographic) premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Cortés directed and produced this gripping saga of African-American astronauts at NASA and in space. Cortés founded her own production company, Cortés Filmworks, and is committed to telling complex, powerful stories from new perspectives and elevating the talent often overlooked by the mainstream.