2026 ILLUMINATIONS GRANT FINALIST

Gugu ISSA

Gugu Issa (she/they) is a Somali American filmmaker and SAG-E actress based in Brooklyn, NY, whose on-screen credits include LITTLE AMERICA (Apple TV, 2022) and CANDIS CAYNE’S SECRET GARDEN (Hulu, 2023). Issa was one of ten filmmakers selected for this year's Sundance Screenwriting Intensive, where she has been developing her debut feature screenplay, "Khutbah." Her work as a writer/director has garnered Issa developmental support from esteemed organizations such as the Sundance Institute, Transgender Film Center, Film Fatales, The Center for Cultural Power, and Lambda Literary. In conjunction with her work in film, Issa is the founder of BXD Collective, a medium-agnostic community platform through which she curated annual summer exhibitions and public programs to develop the work of underrepresented artists.