!){kind=link}
About Safiya Songhai, Board Member
Safiya Songhai is a filmmaker, broadcast journalist, actress, and Professor of Video Production and Immersive Media at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Philadelphia native, trained with highly acclaimed playwright Ntozake Shange, Sankofa director Haile Gerima, and Oscar award winning director Spike Lee.
Her production company Mpire Films produced indie films, Interception: Jayne Kennedy • American Sportscaster, 'Ladylike', and 'In Silent Spaces' – both films earned top honors at film festivals nationwide, and later premiered on PBS. LadyLike was incorporated into lesson plans in middle school curriculum to teach about religious tolerance and is one of the first film credits of the late Chadwick Boseman.
In addition to filmmaking, Songhai has worked as a television commentator for CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, She has covered international news as a TV anchor/reporter for Arise News. As a television producer Songhai hosted a five part PBS series on the legacy of Brown vs. the Board of Education, and produced the undercover prison-cell footage for the 2-hour Dateline special on the BTK Killer.