Kalia Firester is a filmmaker and animator currently based New York. She received her BA in Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard College in 2020 and her MA in Animation at the Belfast School of Art in 2021 where she studied as a Mitchell Scholar.

 

Her debut short film, "To Break A Circle" began its festival run in July, 2024 at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh where it won the Academy Award Qualifying James Horgan Award for Best Animation Short. It also received the award for Best International Short at the Animaze Festival International Du Film D'Animation De Montreal.​

 

Her work has appeared in Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals such as Foyle Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival, and the Manchester Animation Festival. Her work has also been shown at the Anchorage Film Festival, the Kerry International Film Festival, The Solas Nua Capital Film Festival, CIACLA's Irish Film Festival Los Angeles, and the Portland Film Festival among others and has screened at the Harvard Film Archive, and The Tower Museum as part of Ireland's National Culture Night. She has animated for various film and TV projects ranging from documentary features to preschool shows. She is interested in crafting films about the changing relationships humans share with their environment.