Originally from Baltimore Maryland, Angel Kristi Williams received her BA in Visual Art (Photography & Film) from the University of Maryland. After graduation she worked in television for Discovery Communications before being awarded the Lumiere Scholarship to attend Columbia College Chicago as an MFA candidate in Cinema Directing. Her short film The Christmas Tree has screened at numerous festivals both domestically and internationally and garnered the attention of Participant Media, a film production company committed to social responsibility. Williams is the recipient of the 2014 Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship and was named one of ten Black directors to watch in 2014 by Paste Magazine.