alika mteuzi is a writer-director whose work explores Black and Indigenous ontological engagement with future temporalities through experimental collaborative filmmaking. Born in San Jose, California, US, she is Kadohadacho (Caddo) and a descendant of the Tsétsėhéstaestse & Hetanevō’o (Cheyenne & Arapaho) Peoples through her mother and maternal grandparents, Dorothy Pratt (1929-2003) & Tillman Sheyahshe (1922-1979) and of formerly enslaved indigenous people of Alkebu-Lan (Africa) through her father and paternal grandparents, Lillian Marie Adams-Washington (1935-2002) & David Washington (1934-2012). Growing up during the crack and garage hacker era’s of Silicon Valley, alika’s work is influenced by the convergence of culture and technology.
Her filmmaking career began with "A Former Member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense," a short documentary on a surviving activist produced in 2017 at California State University East Bay. alika went on to complete her BFA at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), the only art-specific tribal college & university (TCU), where she developed a filmmaking style that diverges from standardized narrative conventions. Inspired by Luis Valdez’s Teatro Campesino, her approach incorporates traditional elements, symbolism, and creative collaboration. "Hadaya" (2023) her senior project at IAIA, engages with themes of liberation and resistance, challenging dominant narratives. "Hadaya" was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) and its success led to "Hadaya:2033", a condensed version fashioned as a transmission from the future. "Hadaya:2033” was an official selection at the 2024 San Francisco Black Film Festival, the 2024 Native Women in FILM Festival, and the 2024 Feminist Border Arts Film Festival in Las Cruces, NM.
Recently honored by Vision Maker Media and the Native Arts & Culture Foundation, alika is currently working on “CIQADA,” a short film about an Afro-Indigenous hacker navigating corporate conflicts and family tensions. In Spring 2025, alika will join the 2025 Film & Television MFA cohort at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. In her free time, she enjoys learning Hasinai (Caddo) & isiZulu, writing, photography, and spending time with family.
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2025 MFA Film & Television Production (First Year) at University of Southern California (USC) - Los Angeles, CA
2023 BFA w/ Honors in Studio Arts at Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) - Santa Fe, NM Emphasis: Digital Arts, Directing, Visual Effects
2020 AA w/ Honors in Studio Arts at Diablo Valley College (DVC) - Pleasant Hill, CA
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2025 CIQADA, short (Post-Production). Producer, writer, director, editor.
2023 Hadaya:2033, short, 5m 58s. Producer, writer, director, editor.
2023 Hadaya, short, 19m 54s. Producer, writer, director, editor.
2022 Rezd Out, short, 8m 40s. Producer, director & editor.
2019 SQUIRRELS, short, 2m 28s. Director & editor.
2019 DAHOMEY, short, 4m 58s. Director & editor.
2017 AFMOT Black Panther Party F.S.D., documentary, 11m 3s. Director & editor.
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2024 29th Red Nation International Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya
2024 Native Women in FILM Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Urban Mediamakers Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Gravitational Lensing, Shapeshifters Cinema, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 San Francisco Black Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Feminist Border Arts Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Afro-Civilization Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 New York International Women Festival, Winner Best Short, Hadaya:2033
2024 LA Underground Railroad Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Kuumba Black Arts & Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Divergent Film Black Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2024 Oklahoma Black Film Festival, Official Selection, Hadaya:2033
2023 11th Annual IAIA Filmmaker Showcase, 3rd Place Outstanding Film: Hadaya
2022 Mindfield Film Festival Albuquerque, Official Selection: Rezd Out
2022 High Desert Screening Albuquerque, Official Selection: Rezd Out
2022 Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, Student Showcase: Rezd Out
2022 10th Annual IAIA Filmmaker Showcase, 2nd Place Audience Choice: Rezd Out
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2023 LIFT Early Career Support for Native Artists, Native Arts & Cultures Foundation
2023 Digital Media Grant, American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AHEIC)
2023 Ralph Lauren Scholarship American Indian College Fund Award
2023 Eloise Cobell Scholarship Award
2022 Caddo Nation Higher Education Scholarship Award
2022 American Indian Graduate Center Scholarship Award
2022 Deborah L. Goodman Scholarship Award
2020 Center for Cultural Innovation Artist Grant
2019 California College of the Arts Scholarship
2019 Caddo Nation Higher Education Scholarship
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2023 “Hadaya” (film), Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), Santa Fe, NM
2023 “Hadaya” (installation), Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
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2023 BAMBI IS NATIVE, poem. Broadsided Press.
Photo by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts (2023)