director, writER, editor AND ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHER
HYSTERICAL [Working Title] (in progress): an experimental documentary where Black queer comedians dissolve the line between audience, performance, and criticism inside of the directors living room.
CO-DIRECTOR, ARCHIVIST AND EDITOR
NIGHTSONG (2025): FOUR HOUR SINGLE CHANNEL VIDEO INSTALLATION COMMISSIONED FOR AN EXHIBITION BY DEREK FORDJOUR AT DAVID KORDANSKY GALLERY IN LOS ANGELES. COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF FOUND FOOTAGE CUT TO A SOUND MIX ASSEMBLED BY OMAR EDWARDS, JASON WHITE AND JOSIAH BELL. TOTAL RUNTIME: 248 MINUTES
SELECTED PRESSFRIEZE The Ten Best Shows in the Americas of 2025
FRIEZE Derek Fordjour Pays Homage to Black Artistry
OCULA Derek Fordjour’s Love Letter to Future Generations
CO-DIRECTOR AND EDITOR
EDGES OF AILEY (2024): MULTI channel installation FILM CO-DIRECTED BY josh begley, KYA LOU AND CURATOR adrienne edwards. COMMISSIONED BY THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART. THE FILM CUTS THROUGH OF PERFORMANCES, INTERVIEWS AND ADDITIONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL THAT WEAVES THROUGH SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONDITIONS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD FAMOUS CHOREOGRAPHER, ALVIN AILEY. TOTAL RUN TIME: 55 MINUTES
SELECTED PRESSTHE NEW YORKER “The sheer amount of energy that Ailey expended in order to make a self—and, by extension, a company—that reflected his curious, closeted, fearful, sometimes thrillingly reckless nature, which is to say, all his “edges,” is most stunningly represented in “Edges of Ailey” by an art work that Edwards and the filmmakers Josh Begley and Kya Lou have created.” — HILTON ALS, THE HOUSE THAT ALVIN AILEY BUILT
THE NEW YORK TIMES “Music — from Ralph Vaughan Williams, to Mahalia Jackson, to Laura Nyro — was the engine that drove Ailey’s dance. It’s everywhere here. It’s in the air thanks to the eclectic score for the mural-like video piece by Kya Lou and Josh Begley, filmmakers who worked with Edwards, the curator.” — HOLLAND CARTER, at the whitney, a stirring ailey tribute moves dance to the edge
ARTSY 8 MUST-SEE MUSEUM SHOWS IN NEW YORK TO SEE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
ELEPHANT MAGAZINE How to Feel: Five Artists Reflect on Alvin Ailey’s Incredible Legacy
ADDITIONAL EDITOR
BLKNWS (2018-2020): a conceptual news program taking the form of a two-channel installation BY KAHLIL JOSEPH edited by parallax. kya collaborated with the swarm of editors ON KEY BROADCASTS OF BLKNWS, INCLUDING MADE IN L.A. 2020: A VERSION AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM, SUNDANCE 2020, Venice Art Biennale 2019 AND THE WHITNEY HOUSTON TRIBUTE.
ADDITIONAL EDITOR
STONE MOUNTAIN (2024) DIRECTED BY DANIEL KAUFMAN. kya WAS APART OF the swarm of editors AT parallax. In a small Georgia town of 6,000, racist underpinnings and history define the state’s largest tourist attraction: Stone Mountain. Carved on the side of a granite dome that overlooks the hamlet and gives it its name, is a massive confederate memorial where the KKK held rallies as recently as 1948. Through ethereal cinematography, Stone Mountain focuses on local residents and activists as they come to terms with the town’s racist past, and navigate government bureaucracy that struggles to represent its 85% Black community. Despite nationwide efforts to remove Confederate monuments, this one remains protected by state law. this film explores why symbolism matters, questions whose history gets representation and invites viewers to witness the slow arc of change.
ADDITIONAL WRITER AND ILLUSTRATOR
Beyond the Border (2008) is an animated short film developed through a cross-border collaboration between twenty-two middle school students in Tijuana and San Diego. Using model animation, the participants created short films reflecting on the lives of children on the other side of the border. Guided by visual artists, graduate students, and educators, the project invited the children to consider how they imagine, represent, and relate to one another across geographic and cultural distance. As one of the writers and illustrators, the film remains one of KYA’S earliest formative experiences with filmmaking and collaborative work.
