Maia Lekow

Place of birth:

Kiambu, Kenya:

Biography:

Maia Lekow is an award-winning Kenyan director, producer, composer, sound recordist, and touring musician whose multidisciplinary approach fosters intimate and emotionally resonant storytelling. Working together with husband and creative partner Christopher King, the duo tell deeply personal, multi-layered stories exploring identity, culture, resilience, and powerful female protagonists. Their first feature documentary, The Letter (2019), was Kenya's official submission to the 93rd Academy Awards. Their second feature, How to Build a Library, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, won the Golden Alexander Award at Thessaloniki (Newcomers Section), and was hailed "a must-see" by Black Girl Nerds. The film will make its US broadcast premiere on PBS POV in August 2026. As a musician, Maia has toured with her band Maia & the Big Sky and also released albums solo as Maia von Lekow. She was named a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR on World Refugee Day 2013 and received an African Movie Academy Award for her song 'Uko Wapi'. Maia has composed original scores for both The Letter and How to Build a Library, alongside award-winning co-composers Ken Myhr and Katya Mihailova.