Gita Saedi Kiely is the Director of FilmAid, Internews’ in-house program that supports local independent filmmaking in our communities. Beyond filmmaker trainings, screenings, and mentoring opportunities, FilmAid offers a network to support and build sustainability in the communities we serve.

Before joining Internews, Gita spent decades producing, editing and programming documentary films. Over her career she produced numerous feature-length and documentary series, including the acclaimed series The New Americans with Chicago-based film collaborative Kartemquin Films. Gita also served as Executive Director of the Big Sky Film Institute and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, where she led thematic programming around Indigenous storytelling, youth initiatives and environmental justice.

Gita spent a decade teaching documentary film at the University of Montana in the School of Journalism. She has a B.A. in Film Studies and Speech Communications from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a M.S. in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University. She currently sits on the board of the Independent Television Service (ITVS), an organization funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to bring diverse voices to American public television; and serves as a Grants Advisor to The Redford Center, a film funder that uses the power of storytelling to galvanize environmental justice and regeneration. Gita spends her free time hiking, cooking, and living in the Mountain West of the US with her husband, her dachshund and her two teenage children.