Kira Dane is a Japanese American filmmaker, editor, and illustrator from New York City, currently based in Japan. Having grown up between conflicting cultures, she gravitates towards gray areas in her work. With a background in painting and illustration, Kira specializes in incorporating hand-drawn animation and experimental form in hybrid documentary films. She is best known for her short film “Mizuko," supported by If/Then Shorts (Tribeca Film Institute, Field of Vision). The film most notably received a nomination for the IDA Documentary Awards, Special Jury Awards at SXSW and IDFA, and Best Documentary Short at Atlanta Film Festival. Kira was selected as a fellow for the 2019 Sundance Ignite Program and for the 2023 Berlinale Talents program. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Asian American Documentary Network.

Outside of and informing her work, Kira is practicing and studying Tibetan Buddhism, and volunteers for The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).