Katerina Cizek
Research Scientist and Artistic Director, MIT Co-Creation Studio at Open Documentary Lab

Katerina Cizek is an influential figure in international media, with over 25 years of experience as a Peabody- and two time Emmy-winning documentarian, author, producer, and senior leader working with collective processes and emergent technologies. She is research scientist, artistic director and co-founder of the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab. At the studio, she wrote (with Uricchio et al.) the world’s first field study on co-creating media called Collective Wisdom (MIT Press in 2022). At the studio, she designs and facilitates the AI+Documentary Working Group, co-creation workshops, research, delegations and fellowships fusing art, documentary and journalism together with emergent tech and placemaking through the practice of collective creation. For over a decade, Cizek worked as a documentary director at the National Film Board of Canada, transforming the organization into a world-leading digital hub, with the projects HIGHRISE and Filmmaker-in-Residence. Both community-based and globally recognized, these two ground-breaking long-form digital projects garnered international awards and critical acclaim. Cizek’s earlier award-winning human rights documentary film projects instigated criminal investigations, changed UN policies, and screened as evidence at an International Criminal Tribunal. Cizek is a member of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, and has served as an advisor at such labs as the Sundance Institute and CPH:LAB, based in Copenhagen. She is current chair and founding member of the Inaugural Interactive Board of jurors for the Peabody Awards. A vibrant speaker and a trusted advisor, she is often tapped by media organizations and government for advisory and committee positions.