cai thomas is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Chicago telling intimate stories at the intersection of location, self determination, and identity about Black youth and elders. She grew up in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood and is deeply interested in stories rooted in place. Her filmmaking exhibits how Black folks are agitating and organizing for the world they want, whether that’s a journalist investigating police misconduct (Beneath The Surface, PBS 2023) , a disabled lesbian elder fighting for an accessible apartment (Queenie, Criterion Channel 2020) or young folks organizing for parks named after folks that look like them (Change The Name, BET 2021).