Jacqueline Lyanga

Jacqueline Lyanga is the Director of AFI FEST, the American Film Institute’s (AFI) annual film festival in Los Angeles; it’s a position that she has held since 2010, but she has worked for AFI since 2005, as a programmer and producer of year-round and festival programs. She has been a guest and moderator of industry panels at the Berlinale, the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), has been a member of the grants review committee for the Austin Film Society and has served on international film festival juries at festivals such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival, OUTFEST and TIFF. Prior to working for AFI FEST, Ms. Lyanga worked for a number of other film organizations including TIFF, the Slamdance Film Festival and the Independent Film & Television Alliance (producers of the American Film Market). She has worked in film production and distribution for Triptych Media, October Films, and Polygram Filmed Entertainment, and has developed projects for film and television for the CBC, BET Pictures, Disney, Lifetime, Urban Entertainment and the Robey Theater Company.

Ms. Lyanga holds a B.A. in Cinema Studies and Art History from the University of Toronto and an M.F.A from the American Film Institute.