Naeema Torres

Naeema Jamilah Torres is an award-winning independent filmmaker, Impact Producer, and cultural worker. Rooted in her New York City upbringing in multigenerational and culturally diverse households, she explores womanhood, complex ethnic identities, and the historical legacies of the Americas through visual and audio storytelling. Her films have screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, San Francisco DocFest, and St. Louis International Film Festival, and she has directed and produced storytelling content for social justice foundations and corporate brands across the U.S. Prior to dedicating herself full time to storytelling, Naeema worked in home entertainment, managing television and film releases for companies such as Cinedigm and HBO. Her lived experiences and observations of community organizing around social issues led her to impact producing, as well as producing documentaries and podcasts. She has worked on projects supported by ITVS, Frontline, Chicken & Egg Films, and Firelight Media, served as associate producer for The Parole Room podcast—an Audible Original that won the 2025 George Polk Award—and led the impact campaign for HBO’s Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Kartemquin's Unapologetic. As Executive Director of Mezcla Media Collective—a Chicago-based organization serving more than 700 women and non-binary filmmakers—Naeema advocates for equity, resources, and industry access for historically marginalized communities. Under her leadership, Mezcla has secured funding from the MacArthur Foundation, DCASE, the Driehaus Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities, and Color Congress, and works with the collective to produce year-round programming of workshops, seminars, and community mixers to support Midwest film creation. Naeema frequently speaks on panels and at symposia about the documentary field, equity, and resource development and continues to serve as a mentor for filmmakers in Chicagoland. She regularly serves on film festival jury and grant review panels. She holds a BFA in film from The City College of New York and an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University, where she was awarded a Career Development Award from the Association Association of University Women.