Anthony Onah

Anthony Onah
Born February 10, 1983
Alma mater Harvard University
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active 2008 - present

Anthony Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker who attended Harvard University and the UCLA Film School.[1] In the Spring of 2009, he was named to Indiewire's list of 10 Exciting New Voices in Black Cinema.[2]

Education

Onah grew up in Arlington, VA and Washington, D.C. after having lived in the Philippines, United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Togo, moving around with his ambassador father.[1][3] He attended Harvard University and earned an undergraduate degree in biochemical sciences, receiving the Pechet Foundation grant given to junior biochemistry majors and the Thomas T. Hoopes Prize for outstanding scholarly work.[4][5]

Accepted at Cambridge University for graduate school, Onah turned down admission, instead working as a scientist during which time he was published in The Journal of Neuroscience,[6][7] and subsequently chose to attend the MFA program in film directing at the University of California, Los Angeles where he was admitted with a university fellowship.[1][3][8] He has also received the Hollywood Foreign Press Award and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Fellowship. In 2011, Onah was selected as a directing fellow by Film Independent,[9] and in 2012 as a directing talent at the Berlin Talent Campus.[10]

Films

Onah’s films include The Cure, which was recognized by mtvU, won a 2008 Directors Guild of America Award,[11] and was featured in The Los Angeles Times.[12] His next film True Colors world premiered at the 2011 Woodstock Film Festival. Onah subsequently completed A History of Violence with renowned cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker[13] and Dara Ju, which won him a second student Directors Guild of America Award in 2012.[14][15][16] With Dara Ju, Onah also won the first Afrinolly Short Film Competition. Africa's most prestigious Short Film Competition with a $25,000 cash prize.[17]

He is currently developing his debut feature, Dara Ju, based on his short of the same name. The Dara Ju feature has been selected for the 2014 Film Independent Producing Lab, the 2014 IFP Project Forum, and the 2015 Film Independent Directing Lab.[18][19][20]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://dailybruin.com/2008/10/27/grad-student-honored-meaningful-short-film/
  2. http://www.indiewire.com/article/shorts_monthly_ten_exciting_new_voices_in_black_cinema#
  3. 3.0 3.1 http://old.tft.ucla.edu/profiles/social/anthony-onah_stolen-dreams/
  4. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2005/5/18/hoopes-prizes-awarded-the-faculty-of/
  5. http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/students/anthony-onah/
  6. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/sfn-ntf121406.php
  7. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/51/13400.long
  8. http://old.tft.ucla.edu/videos/interview/anthony-onah_stolen-dreams/
  9. http://talent.filmindependent.org/filmmakers/anthony-onah/
  10. http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/campus/talent/anthony-onah3/profile
  11. http://www.dga.org/News/PressReleases/2008/0911-DGA-Announces-Winners-of-14th-Annual-Student-Filmmakers-Awards.aspx
  12. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/10/aspiring-filmma.html
  13. http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/2/4/a-history-of-violence
  14. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/dga-honors-diverse-student-filmmakers-390097
  15. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062244
  16. http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/directors-guild-announces-student-film-awards-winners/#more-371892
  17. Afrinolly. "Afrinolly Short Film Competition Winners".
  18. http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/film-independent-selects-eight-indie-films-for-2014-producing-lab-20141028
  19. http://www.indiewire.com/article/heres-133-films-selected-for-ifps-2014-project-forum-at-independent-film-week
  20. http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/film-independent-names-6-directing-lab-fellows-20150203

External links