Akosua Adoma Owusu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Akosua Adoma Owusu
Akosua Adoma Owusu in 2016
Born	January 1, 1984 Alexandria, Virginia
Nationality	Ghanaian, American
Education	master's degrees in the School of Film/Video and School of Fine Art from California Institute of the Arts, bachelor's degere in interdisciplinary degree in Media Studies and Studio Art with distinction from the University of Virginia
Alma mater	University of Virginia and California Institute of the Arts
Notable work	Kwaku Ananse (film), Me Broni Ba (2009) and Drexciya (film) (2011)
Style	Filmmaker, Producer
Movement	Feminism
Awards	2015 Guggenheim Fellowship 2013 MacDowell Colony Fellow 2013 Africa Movie Academy Award 2012 Art Matters grantee 2012 Creative Capital grantee 2011 Focus Features Africa First awardee

Akosua Adoma Owusu (born January 1, 1984) is a talented Ghanaian-American filmmaker and producer. She creates films that explore what it's like to have different cultural backgrounds. Her movies often show the experiences of black immigrants in America.

Owusu uses various film styles, from cinematic essays to experimental stories. She aims to create a unique "third space" in her films. This space helps to show how feminism, being queer, and African identities connect. Her work often explores these ideas within African, white American, and black American cultures.

She has also taught at important universities. Currently, she is a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard University and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Early Life and Education

Akosua Adoma Owusu was born on January 1, 1984. Her parents were from Ghana, and she grew up in an immigrant neighborhood. This was in Alexandria, Virginia, where she was the youngest of three children.

She studied at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in Media Studies and Studio Art in 2005. Later, in 2008, she earned two master's degrees. These were from the School of Film/Video and the School of Fine Art at California Institute of the Arts.

Owusu started her film career as an assistant. She worked on Chris Rock's HBO documentary called "Good Hair" (2009). Soon after, she began making her own short, experimental films.

Her Career as a Filmmaker

After finishing her studies in 2008, Owusu quickly gained recognition. She was a featured artist at the 56th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. Indiewire magazine named her one of the top "Avant-Garde Female Filmmakers." The Huffington Post also listed her among "Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40."

In 2013, she received a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. In 2015, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. These are important awards for artists. In 2020, she received the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.

Her Unique Film Style

Indiewire describes Owusu's changing film style. They say she explores the "complex contradictions" of black identity. Her films also look at feelings of displacement and memory. Owusu combines experimental cinema, fine art, and African tradition. She creates unique films that question what identity truly means.

Her film Me Broni Ba (which means "my white baby") explores different ideas. It uses hair to represent culture. She examines African and African-American identities. This film tries to bring these different ideas together. Ed Halter, a film expert, listed Me Broni Ba as one of the top films of 2010.

Award-Winning Films

Owusu has produced many award-winning films. These include Reluctantly Queer (2016) and Kwaku Ananse.

• Kwaku Ananse: In 2013, Kwaku Ananse was nominated for a Golden Bear award. This was at the Berlinale film festival. It also won the 2013 Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Short Film for Ghana. The film starred Ghanaian artist Jojo Abot. It was supported by Focus Features' Africa First program. Its North American debut was at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Kwaku Ananse was also chosen for the César Golden Nights program. This program highlights notable short films.

• Reluctantly Queer: This film (2016) was made with Dr. Kwame Edwin Otu. It was nominated for the Golden Bear and Teddy Award in 2016. Its North American premiere was at the New Directors/New Films Festival.

• On Monday of Last Week: In 2017, Owusu wrote and directed this film. It was based on a short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The film featured American actress Karyn Parsons. It was nominated at the 2017 African Movie Academy Awards.

Filming in Ghana

In a 2015 interview, Owusu shared her reasons for filming in Ghana. She said she wanted to connect with her Ghanaian heritage. She sees herself as an American filmmaker of Ghanaian descent. She feels Ghanaian in America and American in Ghana.

Traveling to Ghana helped her understand black identity in both Africa and the African diaspora. Her love for Africa came from romantic ideas about the continent. She saw it as a home waiting for her. Filming in Ghana is part of this personal journey.

In 2014, Akosua Adoma Owusu was an Executive Producer for Afronauts. This was a science fiction short film. It was written and directed by young Ghanaian filmmaker Nuotama Bodomo.

Preserving Film History

The Rex Cinema Project

In 2013, Owusu started a global campaign called 'Save the Rex!' This project aimed to save one of Ghana's oldest cinema houses. Many cinemas in Ghana closed down in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. This was due to political issues and curfews. Owusu wanted to save Rex Cinema to protect these historic places.

In 2016, she worked on a screenplay about her campaign. This was at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. In 2017, The Guardian announced her plans. Owusu was working on a feature film about her efforts to restore the Rex cinema. This film would combine real-life events with fictional parts.

International Recognition

Akosua Adoma Owusu has received much international praise.

• In 2015, two of her films were chosen as "critics' picks" in Artforum magazine.
• Her film Reluctantly Queer was named one of the best films of 2016. This was by Sight & Sound magazine, published by the British Film Institute (BFI).
• In 2016, Britain's Royal African Society named her their "Human of the Week." South Africa's Elle (magazine) also listed her as one of "50 incredible women."
• In 2017, Dazed magazine featured her. They called her one of "ten experimental filmmakers tackling the world's big topics."
• In 2018, the Cobo Center asked Owusu to create a video installation. This was for Black History Month in Detroit, Michigan.
• She was an artist-in-residence at the Goethe-Institut Vila Sul in Salvador, Bahia Brazil, in 2018. She was there with British installation artist Isaac Julien.
• Owusu was a juror at the 57th Ann Arbor Film Festival. She also presented a special program of her films.
• In 2019, she led a workshop for filmmakers in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was about "Triple Consciousness."
• Her film White Afro won an award at the 2019 Locarno Festival in Switzerland.
• Her film Pelourinho: They Don't Really Care About Us was also named one of the best films of 2019 by Sight & Sound magazine.

Selected Exhibitions

Owusu's films and art have been shown in many important places around the world. Here are some of them:

• 2020: Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle at the Museum of Modern Art
• 2019: Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle at Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans)
• 2019: Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle at Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
• 2019: Between Three Worlds: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at REDCAT
• 2019: Triple Consciousness: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
• 2019: Sala de Video: Akosua Adoma Owusu at the São Paulo Museum of Art
• 2019: Triple Consciousness: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond
• 2019: Screening: Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
• 2018: Triple Consciousness at BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels
• 2018: African Twilight at the Bowers Museum
• 2018: Fragments of a Dream at the McNay Art Museum
• 2018: Screening and Conversation with Director Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Fowler Museum at UCLA
• 2017: Akosua Adoma Owusu and Bus Nut at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
• 2016: Making Africa: Akosua Adoma Owusu at Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
• 2016: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at Tabakalera
• 2016: Encuentro con Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
• 2016: L'évènement Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Centre Georges Pompidou
• 2016: Triple Consciousness at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• 2016: Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905–2016 at the Whitney Museum of American Art
• 2015: Modern Mondays: An Evening with Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Museum of Modern Art
• 2015: Existential Crisis at the Rochester Art Center
• 2015: America Is Hard to See at the Whitney Museum of American Art
• 2015: The Art of Hair in Africa at the Fowler Museum at UCLA
• 2015: Two Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at Art and Practice in association with the Hammer Museum
• 2015: Do/Tell at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
• 2014: Prospect.3: Notes for Now New Orleans Triennial
• 2013: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu at the Moderna Museet
• 2012: Fore at the Studio Museum in Harlem
• 2012: The Bearden Project at the Studio Museum in Harlem
• 2011: VideoStudio: Changing Same at the Studio Museum in Harlem
• 2011: Quadruple Consciousness at the Vox Populi (art gallery)
• 2009: 30 Seconds Off an Inch at the Studio Museum in Harlem
• 2009: Me Broni Ba at the Museum of Modern Art Documentary Fortnight

Awards and Nominations

Filmography

Images for kids

• 

  Akosua Adoma Owusu in 2016