Kate diRienzi is an NYC-based filmmaker from Philly. Her films examine explosive emotional landscapes through a lens of strained femininity and queer freedom. 

Before making films, Kate began as a theater director and choreographer. Her first short film, Before We Die, was awarded Best Short Film at the Boston Film Festival. Her second short, Nun’s Beach received an Audience Award at NFFTY in 2025 and was an Official Selection at Hamptons International Film Festival, Bend Film Festival, & Short of the Week. Kate is currently developing her first feature, Going Dark — a psychological drama about catholic school girls and the monsters that live inside of them.

Kate is a 2025 Robert Gore Rifkind Queer Production Grant Recipient, a 2025 Stowe Writer’s Retreat Accelerator Fellowship Semi-Finalist, 2025 Screenwriter Sessions PANO Scholarship Recipient, and a 2024 NYWIFT Scholarship Recipient.

Kate received her BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is now completing her MFA in Screenwriting & Directing at Columbia University. She also participated in the La Fémis Producing Atelier in Paris and Cannes.