2026 ILLUMINATIONS GRANT FINALIST
Gugu ISSA
Image courtesy of the artist.
Gugu Issa (she/they) is a Somali American filmmaker and SAG-E actress based in Brooklyn, NY. Her 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 developed 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 curates annual summer exhibitions and has raised over $25,000 to develop the work of 50+ underrepresented artists.