2022 Judge: Eseoghene Obrimah

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I AM A STORYTELLER.

But, more specifically, I’m a writer and producer committed to telling stories that imagine what freedom looks like. My experiences as an international student in the United States and as an advocate for Black students and survivors of sexual assault inform my choices as a filmmaker. I focus on stories that analyze social issues primarily within the genres of fantasy, magical realism and africanfuturism.

My short film, 35, a social thriller about the short life expectancy of Black trans women, won the Best of Festival Student Award at the Dayton Independent Film Festival and the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival. In 2019, I received the Movie Magic Producer Award and, in 2020, I was awarded the Alfred P. Weisman Award and the RedBull Arts Microgrant. In 2021, I was selected to participate in that year’s Full Spectrum Features’ Chicago Independent Producers Lab.

I have experience working with production teams on projects ranging from international brand commercials to small scale short films in Nigeria and in the United States. I also have experience developing marketing strategy, copywriting and creating content for companies, non-profits and brands.

I have had my writing published in the Campus Speaks Magazine and in Anti-Black Racism and Epistemic Violence by Dr. Kyra Shahid.

I am currently based in Lagos, Nigeria.