Filmmaker Editor Storyteller

Lesley Steele is a director, editor & producer of video art & documentary film. Originally a NYC native she obtained a BFA in Design Technology from Parsons The New School for Design & Masters in Directing from School of Visual Arts. In 2020 she was chosen to participate in Sundance's Art of Editing Fellowship & subsequently appeared on DOC NYC's “40 under 40” filmmakers list.

Steele’s spark in experimental 16mm cinematography & analog editing is a driving force in her work, both non-fiction & fiction. Her latest film By Way of Canarsie, is currently on the festival circuit & distributed by Dedza Films and Kino Lorber. The film is currently available to watch on The Criterion Channel and PBS POV Films.

Lesley is currently producing her first investigative feature doc about the state of mental health and its intersection with race and the carceral system in the United States. Much of Steele’s filmmaking reflects the essence of nonlinear experimental storytelling & unorthodox approaches to visioning stories of the black experience & culture within the African Diaspora across the Caribbean & United States. During the civil uprising following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, she documented the late Floyd’s horse-carriage funeral on 16mm film in Austin.

Previous clients include MTV, Nickelodeon, Spotify, TED, Buzzfeed, SnapChat, NowThis and others. You can find Lesley via Brown Girls Doc Mafia, The Alliance of Doc Editors & Array Crew.