Kasi Lemmons

Kasi Lemmons (/ˈkeɪsi/; born Karen Diane Lemmons, February 24, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with Eve's Bayou (1997), followed by The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Talk to Me (2007), Black Nativity (2013), Harriet (2019), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). In 2007, film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon called her first three films "deeply resonant personal statements ... Lemmons's work is an ongoing testament to the creative possibilities of film."

As an actress, her film debut was in Spike Lee's School Daze (1988). She continued acting in Vampire's Kiss (1989), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Candyman (1992).