Ngozi Onwurah

Mama Africa

In 1997, six African women pledged that in the first year of the new millennium they would tell their stories, stories by African women. They called their series "Mama Africa" and drew their tales from the depths of their hearts. The result is a groundbreaking initiative bringing together the incredibly fresh talents of six female directors from the vast and diverse continent of Africa.

Neighborhood Alert

The story of a Black mother who is forced to take extraordinary action in order to ensure the safety of her teenage son.

Coffee Coloured Children

Coffee-Colored Children is an autobiographical portrayal of Ngozi's, and her brother's, sad welcome to the world where the color of your skin dictates the amount of respect & love you receive.

Shoot the Messenger

Shoot the Messenger follows one man's painful journey towards self-discovery. On the way he finds both his own attitudes and the expectations of his community challenged.

Flight of the Swan

A young girl leaves her Nigerian village to attend a ballet school in England. Fascinated by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, she dreams of performing as lead ballerina Princess Odette, but the girls in her close-minded ballet school mock her ideas of a 'black swan'.

The Body Beautiful

This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah’s brave excursion into her mother’s scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy. The filmmaker plumbs the depths of maternal strength and daughterly devotion in an unforgettable tribute starring her real-life mother, Madge Onwurah.

I Bring You Frankincense

"A rites of passage drama about a mixed race boy called Sunshine who leaves Guildford in [the] 1970's and moves to London." - BFI

Welcome II the Terrordome

Spike and his sister Anjela live in the Terrordome, a huge ghetto that all the blacks have been forced to live in. Jodie, Spike's pregnant white girlfriend, ran away from an abusive white boyfriend who, after seeing her with Spike, sets up a trap for her. Spike's 11-year old nephew Hector dies as a result of this trap, and Anjela, finding the body of her son, goes on a police-killing rampage. Her apprehension sets off tension between Spike and his brother-in-law, as a race war broods inside the Terrordome.

Mama Africa

In 1997, six African women pledged that in the first year of the new millennium they would tell their stories, stories by African women. They called their series "Mama Africa" and drew their tales from the depths of their hearts. The result is a groundbreaking initiative bringing together the incredibly fresh talents of six female directors from the vast and diverse continent of Africa.

Neighborhood Alert

The story of a Black mother who is forced to take extraordinary action in order to ensure the safety of her teenage son.

Coffee Coloured Children

Coffee-Colored Children is an autobiographical portrayal of Ngozi's, and her brother's, sad welcome to the world where the color of your skin dictates the amount of respect & love you receive.

Shoot the Messenger

Shoot the Messenger follows one man's painful journey towards self-discovery. On the way he finds both his own attitudes and the expectations of his community challenged.

Flight of the Swan

A young girl leaves her Nigerian village to attend a ballet school in England. Fascinated by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, she dreams of performing as lead ballerina Princess Odette, but the girls in her close-minded ballet school mock her ideas of a 'black swan'.

The Body Beautiful

This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah’s brave excursion into her mother’s scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy. The filmmaker plumbs the depths of maternal strength and daughterly devotion in an unforgettable tribute starring her real-life mother, Madge Onwurah.

I Bring You Frankincense

"A rites of passage drama about a mixed race boy called Sunshine who leaves Guildford in [the] 1970's and moves to London." - BFI

Welcome II the Terrordome

Spike and his sister Anjela live in the Terrordome, a huge ghetto that all the blacks have been forced to live in. Jodie, Spike's pregnant white girlfriend, ran away from an abusive white boyfriend who, after seeing her with Spike, sets up a trap for her. Spike's 11-year old nephew Hector dies as a result of this trap, and Anjela, finding the body of her son, goes on a police-killing rampage. Her apprehension sets off tension between Spike and his brother-in-law, as a race war broods inside the Terrordome.

Sisters of the Screen - African Women in the Cinema

Exploring the extraordinary contributions of women filmmakers from Africa and the diaspora, Beti Ellerson’s engaging debut intersperses interviews with such acclaimed women directors as Safi Faye, Sarah Maldoror, Anne Mungai, Fanta Régina Nacro and Ngozi Onwurah with footage from their seminal work. With power and nuance, Ellerson also confronts the thorny question of cultural authenticity by revisiting the legendary 1991 FESPACO (Pan-African Festival of Cinema and Television of Ouagadougou), in which diasporian women were asked to leave a meeting intended for African woman only. This film is both a valuable anthology and a fitting homage to the pioneers and new talents of African cinema.

And Still I Rise

Inspired by Maya Angelou’s poetry, Onwurah explores fears and fascinations about black women.

Hang Time

Hang Time follows Kwame, a promising basketball player who, desperate to provide for his grandmother and sister and obtain a contract in America, accepts a risky proposal.

White Men Are Cracking Up

Maisie Blue is an enigmatic black widow figure under investigation by detective Margrave for her involvement in the suicides of successful white men. Through the blurred lines of perception and reality, the myth of the Black feminine mystique is explored under the guise of a murder mystery. The film explores the fetishization of Black women as a manifestation of white male insecurity.

Monday's Girls

"Monday's Girls" explores the conflict between modern individualism and traditional communities in today's Africa through the eyes of two young Waikiriki women from the Niger delta. Although both come from leading families in the same large island town, Florence looks at the iria women's initiation ceremony as an honor, while Azikiwe, who has lived in the city for ten years, sees it as an indignity.

The Desired Number

This short documentary examines multiple facets of Nigeria’s cultural attitudes towards pregnancy, women’s productive options, and the familial structure.

Heartbeat

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

South of the Border

Female private detectives Pearl Parker and Finn Gallagher operate within the bustling multicultural communities of South London.