Kira Powell is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based writer-director and SAG-AFTRA actor of African American and Ecuadorian heritage. She holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI). Her films explore identity and inheritance through multiracial and immigrant experiences. Her AFI thesis short film, Best Eyes, won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Jury Award for Outstanding Directing at the DGA Student Film Awards, and was nominated for Outstanding Short Form (Live Action) at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards. The film has received additional recognition from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA). Kira’s work has screened at festivals including the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), Urbanworld, Screamfest, and Tallgrass. As an actor, she has appeared in film, television, and national and international commercials. Her artistic development is supported by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and The Gotham. Kira is currently developing her feature films Best Eyes and The Second Child.

The Second Child — After losing her first child, an immigrant mother keeps her surviving daughter sealed inside their apartment during a sweltering summer, until her desperate need to protect the girl begins to endanger the very child she is trying to keep safe.