The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the recipients of the 2025-2026 Canva Fellowship at the AFI Conservatory. This marks the third year of Canva partnering with AFI to further their shared mission of educating and inspiring the next generation of filmmakers. The scholarship supports one Fellow from each of the six disciplines at the AFI Conservatory: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting.
The recipients of The Canva Fellowship for 2025-2026 are AFI First Year Fellows Maghsoud Eghrari (Screenwriting), Brianna Kolybaba (Production Design), Mahsati Moorhead (Cinematography), Zhizong Qu (Editing), Aemilia Scott (Directing) and Allisa Tsukimori (Producing). The Fellows will start their Master of Fine Arts filmmaking program at the AFI Conservatory on the AFI Campus in Los Angeles this August. Over the course of their two-year AFI Conservatory MFA program, each Fellow will receive a $40,000 scholarship, with a total of $240,000 awarded to the six recipients.
“At the AFI Conservatory, we’re committed to bringing emerging filmmakers together through learning the craft of storytelling,” said Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory. “For the third consecutive year, we’re proud to partner with Canva to help our Fellows amplify their voices as they grow into leaders in their creative communities and bring a wide range of perspectives to audiences around the world.”
About the 2025-2026 Recipients
Maghsoud “Hami” Eghrari – Screenwriting Fellow
Eghrari moved to the U.S. from Iran in 2017 and recently graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas where he earned a BS in Healthcare Studies. Driven by a passion for storytelling, he pivoted to filmmaking. Since 2022, he has co-directed large-scale theatrical productions, A NEW DRESS FOR MONA and THE KINGFISHER’S WING. His work in coordinating intensive community-building programs in underserved Dallas neighborhoods inspired him to write “Even Birds Have a Nest,” his fiction work published in “The Southern Quill” in 2023. In 2024, Eghrari created the short films WRONG WHITE and BLIND SPOT, marking his filmmaking debut.
Brianna Kolybaba – Production Design Fellow
Kolybaba is a Canadian-Ukrainian film, theater, and opera designer. She brings her passion for world-building through design. She has a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Alberta. She was a contributor of Prague Quadrennial Performance Design and Space conference in 2019 and 2023. Kolybaba won the Outstanding Production Design Award at FAVA Fest in 2024 for her work on the short NIGIQTUQ. Her credits include BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND, THE LAND OF NOD, UNSPEAKABLE, and THE MURDER OF JONBENET RAMSEY.
Zhizong “Jason” Qu – Editing Fellow
Qu is a recent graduate of SCAD, with a BFA in Film and TV and a minor in Sound Editing. Qu is interested in editing narratives and trailers while also having a passion for production audio. He will often do both production audio and editing on the same project to get the best audio and workflow. Qu is currently editing the feature film, SECRETS OF SAVANNAH.
Aemilia Scott – Directing Fellow
Scott graduated from Columbia University with a degree in History. Before directing and writing she worked as an actor in TV, Film and at Second City Chicago. Her most recent short film, HELP ME UNDERSTAND, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her first short film, BEST IF USED BY, premiered at Clermont-Ferrand and won a BAFTA LA Award at Aspen Shortsfest. Her feature screenplay,”Three Hours,” was a semifinalist for the Academy Nicholl Screenwriter’s prize and won the Blacklist/Cassian Elwes Screenwriter’s Fellowship. Scott’s feature screenplay, “Donna,” was a finalist at the Austin Screenwriter’s Competition.
Mahsati Moorhead – Cinematography Fellow
Moorhead is a graduate of Spelman College with a BA in Photography and Cultural Anthropology. She studied in Paris and London assisting cinematographer Bradford Young, ASC, with film installations and Tribe 7 archives. She interned at TRIBE7 London, worked with Rap Research Lab and supported Simone Leigh’s “Loophole of Retreat” at the Venice Biennale. Moorhead’s film AUSPICIOUS RETURN screened at BlackStar Film Festival and Maryland Film Festival and is featured in programs at Georgetown University and Duke Ellington School. She has worked in the camera and art departments on SPACE JAM, REALLY LOVE, AS TOLD TO G/D THYSELF, THE KING & AND THE VIKING, and the Telfar brand.
Allisa Tsukimori – Producing Fellow
Tsukimori is an Australian Japanese producer based in Queensland, Australia. She has produced the feature film THE AEGEAN as well as PLANTED, an eight-episode web series. Outside of her work in film, Tsukimori has earned her Bachelor of Laws (LLBHons) from Queensland University of Technology and has built a legal career focused on employment and discrimination law working in the not-for-profit space.
