Mykel Salazar

Mykel Salazar is a queer Indigenous female filmmaker from the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico and the first in her family of multidisciplinary artists to work in cinema. She built her foundation in physical production from the ground up, starting as a production assistant and working her way into the Directors Guild of America as a First Assistant Director. While executing the visions of other directors on projects featured at Sundance, Berlinale, and Tribeca, she recognized an undeniable need to author her own work and transitioned fully into writing and directing.Mykel’s background as an Assistant Director gives her a strong technical discipline and a collaborative set culture centered on actor safety and trust. As a director, her visual language is deliberate and sensory. She uses intimate framing, measured pacing, and long takes with minimal dialogue to build immersive character studies. Drawn to the stark landscapes of the American Southwest, Mykel’s work centers queer women, female gaze intimacy, and the space where raw realism intersects with subtle surrealism.Her narrative shorts have screened at multiple Oscar-qualifying festivals and received over 15 awards, including honors for Best Director, Best Queer Film, and Best Cause-Driven Film. Committed to storytelling that creates tangible impact, she recently co-wrote and directed The Bookstore, a short film that helped mobilize support for the 2026 New Mexico Immigrant Safety Act. Named a Rising Star by the New Mexico Film & Television Hall of Fame, Mykel was recently selected to this year's Stowe Story Labs Feature Campus and also serves on the board of the Government and Advocacy subcommittee for New Mexico Women in Film. She splits her time between New Mexico and Spain with her wife, Lena, and their rescue dog, Storm.