Mercedes Kane

As a storyteller, Mercedes Kane is forever fascinated by the human experience and the many ways to explore and express that experience. Founder of Daisy May Films, she most recently directed the feature films ART AND PEP (2022, Peacock), MORE WITH LESS: THE POWER OF HBCUs IN AMERICA (2022) and WHAT REMAINS: THE BURNING DOWN OF BLACK WALL STREET (2021, the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture) about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. ART AND PEP premiered at OutFest in Los Angeles, before winning the Audience Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and premiering on Peacock in June of 2023. Her third feature length documentary, the award-winning BREAKFAST AT INA’S, premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival before screening at 50+ international film festivals, then being acquired by American Public Television. Mercedes’ other previous films include BANANA SEASON (producer, 2018) TODAY WE SAW THE FACE OF GOD (director, 2012), HEARTS OF HOPE (director, 2009) CHICAGO HEIGHTS (associate producer, 2010), named “One of the Best Art Films” of the year by Roger Ebert. In addition to her film work, Mercedes is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction at the University of Georgia. She’s regularly published in The Takeout and is working on a long form written article and podcast about the juvenile justice system in America, as told through one tragic story.