Yusef Ferguson is an American filmmaker, visual artist, educator, and learner.
In his personal practice, Yusef is interested in the intersection of spirituality, history, science, and culture, particularly how they inform one another. His work explores dichotomies in our world, examining the relationships between the living and the dead, the seen and the unseen, and the natural and the unnatural, and how these can function as parables for our own experiences. He is interested in function over form to explore how film can be extended beyond the screen, further engaging viewers. He is also interested in the potential of the archive as a means of cultural preservation and digital griot.
He received the 2024 Tina Perry and Rick Whitney Grant for his upcoming project, Sanguine. He was a member of the 2023 inaugural Netflix Documentary Archival Research Training Program and a 2023 Princess Grace Award Finalist. Recent exhibitions include The Broadwater in Hollywood, California, the California Institute of the Arts, and the William Roland Gallery at California Lutheran University. In 2021, he worked as the cinematographer for the Atlanta edition of the KQED Production If Cities Could Dance, which later won a Southeast Emmy that year for Best Short Form Content.
Yusef earned his Master’s of Fine Arts in the Film and Video Program at the California Institute of the Arts and his Bachelor’s of the Arts in Film with a Minor in Psychology from Georgia State University. He worked professionally as an editor and camera operator in Atlanta, GA, specializing in commercial, nonprofit, and documentary video before switching coasts to Los Angeles. He is currently working as an AICAD Fellow teaching in the Film Department at Columbus College of Art and Design.