Kristina Leath-Malin is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, media scholar, and digital artist focused on the intersection of race, gender, and genre storytelling, with a particular emphasis on horror.
She holds both an MA and MFA in Media Arts from Long Island University, with a concentration in post-production, media management, and feminist media theory.
Her signature project, My Final Girl, is a multimedia exploration of Black women’s representation in American horror. Spanning a documentary short, web series, and digital archive, the project reexamines the “Final Girl” trope by centering Black women within the genre’s history and evolution.
Kristina’s work bridges scholarship and practice. Her research began with a focus on women in French horror and expanded into a sustained body of work examining Black women in the genre. This long-term focus informs both her academic writing and her creative projects.
Her work has been presented at festivals, academic programs, and industry panels. She has served as a mentor and thesis reviewer for the Raindance Film Festival postgraduate program and is recognized as a SheSource Expert by the Women’s Media Center in feminist horror cinema.
Through her consultancy, KLM Brooklyn, she integrates storytelling, strategy, and media production across film and digital platforms.
Selected Timeline
2009
Began graduate research focused on women in horror
2010
Refined focus to women in French horror cinema
2011
Completed and published MA thesis: Objectification Repackaged: The Women of 21st Century French Horror
2012
Launched My Final Girl: Black Women in American Horror (MFA project)
Initiated primary research, interviews, and archival work across major institutions
2012–2013
Conducted interviews with key figures in Black horror and film scholarship
Completed archival research across Schomburg Center, UCLA, and other collections
2014–2016
Presented My Final Girl at festivals, panels, and academic events
Completed MFA thesis (passed with distinction)
2016
Produced One for the Road (Stephen King Dollar Baby project) with a predominantly female cast and crew
2017–2019
Featured in IndieWire and Shadow & Act
Screened My Final Girl internationally, including Berlin
2017–2020
Ongoing research, film analysis, and writing focused on women and horror cinema
Continued development of My Final Girl as an evolving body of work
Present
Writing and developing next horror projects