Ayoka Chenzira facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ayoka "Ayo" Chenzira
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| Born | November 8, 1953 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Filmmaker and Television Director |
| Years active | 1979 - |
| Known for | One of a handful of Black experimental filmmakers working in the late 1970s, One of the first African American women filmmakers to write, produce, and direct a feature film |
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Notable work
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"Hairpiece: A Film for Nappyheaded People", "Zajota & the Boogie Spirit", "Alma's Rainbow", "MOTV", "HERadventure" |
Ayoka "Ayo" Chenzira (born November 8, 1953) is an amazing American filmmaker, director, and artist. She is known for creating films, animated stories, and even interactive digital experiences. Ayo Chenzira was one of the first African American women to direct a full-length movie.
She is also one of the first Black experimental filmmakers, making unique and creative films since the late 1970s. Her work often challenges stereotypes and promotes social justice. She is also a pioneer in teaching film to others.
Some of her most famous works include the movie Alma’s Rainbow (1993), the drama MOTV, and animated films like Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People (1984) and Zajota & the Boogie Spirit (1989). More recently, she has explored "transmedia storytelling," which combines physical objects with digital art and interactive films. An example is HERadventure (2013), a project she worked on with her daughter, HaJ.
Contents
Early Life and Artistic Beginnings
Ayoka Chenzira was born in Philadelphia and grew up in North Philadelphia. Her mother owned a beauty salon in their building, which exposed Ayoka to a creative environment. From a young age, she learned to play the piano and cello, and also studied ballet.
Her mother always encouraged her artistic dreams. Ayoka started working with moving images when she was just 17 years old. She was always surrounded by art, attending dance lessons, opera, and theatre shows.
Education and Teaching Career
After high school, Ayoka Chenzira studied film and photography at The College of New Rochelle. She earned her master's degree in education from Columbia University. She also received her bachelor's degree in film production from New York University.
Her final project at NYU was Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum (1979). This short film was about Syvilla Fort, an important African American dancer and teacher. Ayoka Chenzira is also the first African American to earn a PhD in Digital Media Arts from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
She is currently the Division Chair of the Arts at Spelman College. She was also one of the first African Americans to teach film production at a college level.
Filmmaking Journey
Ayoka Chenzira was part of a group of young Black filmmakers who made movies without relying on big Hollywood studios. From 1981 to 1984, she worked at the Black Filmmakers Foundation. There, she helped share and promote films made by Black artists.
In 1993, she became one of the first African American women to produce a full-length movie, Alma's Rainbow. In 1984, she was chosen as one of seven writer/directors for the famous Sundance Institute.
In the mid-1980s, Chenzira started her own company called Red Carnelian. This company, based in New York, focused on making and distributing media that showed the lives and culture of African Americans.
She also led the Department of Media and Communication Arts at the City College of New York. She helped create their first master's degree program in media arts production. Ayoka Chenzira has always been a strong supporter of independent cinema. She helped other filmmakers and served on panels for important arts organizations.
In the mid-1990s, Chenzira worked as a consultant for M-Net Television in South Africa. She also taught screenwriting and directing in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.
In 2001, she became the first William and Camille Cosby Endowed Professor in the Arts at Spelman College. There, she created the Digital Moving Image Salon (DMIS), a special course for students to research and make documentaries. Her films are now part of permanent collections at famous museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Notable Films and Themes
Ayoka Chenzira's films often explore important themes about identity, culture, and social issues.
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People (1984) is a short animated film that uses humor and different art styles. It talks about the special connection Black women have with their hair. Chenzira made this film to question why "kinky hair" was sometimes seen as not beautiful.
The film highlights how society's ideas of beauty can affect how African American women see themselves. It uses animation, music, and magazine photos to look at Black beauty trends from the early 1900s to the 1980s. In 2018, this film was chosen for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. This means it's considered very important culturally, historically, or artistically.
Alma's Rainbow
In 1993, Chenzira produced and directed Alma's Rainbow. This movie is a "coming-of-age" story about middle-class Black women in Brooklyn. It was one of the first full-length movies written and directed by an African American woman.
The film follows Alma Gold, her daughter Rainbow, and Rainbow’s aunt Ruby as they try to find happiness and value in their lives. It explores the challenges they face in a world that often judges people based on race, class, and gender. The movie encourages viewers to think about how society's ideas can affect women's self-image.
Dance and Digital Storytelling
Two of her films, Syvilla: They Dance to Her Drum (1979) and Zajota & the Boogie Spirit (1989), explore the importance of dance in Black history. Syvilla is a documentary about the life of dancer Syvilla Fort. Zajota is an animated film about the journey of Africans to America and the Caribbean.
Starting with Zajota & the Boogie Spirit, Chenzira began to focus more on digital and "transmedia storytelling." This means telling stories across different platforms, like websites, smartphones, and social media. She released the first part of HERadventure, an interactive science fiction fantasy film, online in 2014. This project, created with her daughter HaJ, is part film and part interactive game.
Since 2018, Ayoka Chenzira has also been directing episodes for television shows.
Filmography
- Syvilla: They Dance to Her Drum (Short) (1979)
- Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People (Short) (1984)
- Secret Sounds Screaming (Short) (1985)
- Five Out of Five (Music Video) (1986)
- On Becoming a Woman (Animation) (1986)
- The Lure and the Lore (short) (1989)
- Zajota and the Boogie Spirit (Short) (1990)
- Pull Your Head to the Moon (TV Short) (1992)
- Alma's Rainbow (1993)
- Snowfire (Short) (1994)
- Sentry at the Gate: The Comedy of Jane Galvin-Lewis (1995)
- In the Rivers of Mercy Angst (Short) (1997)
- HERadventure (2014)
- MOTV (My Own TV)
Television Directing
In 2018, Ava DuVernay invited Ayoka Chenzira to direct an episode of the TV series Queen Sugar. For this episode, Chenzira was nominated for an NAACP Award for Best Director. Since then, she has directed episodes for other popular shows, including Queen Sugar (season 4 finale), Greenleaf, Trinkets, Delilah, Dynasty, A League of Their Own, Octavia Butler's Kindred, and Beacon 23.
Awards and Recognition
Ayoka Chenzira has received many awards and honors for her important work in film and media.
In 2020, Black Women Animate and the Cartoon Network gave her the Cultural Innovator Award. In 2019, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began to restore and preserve her films.
Her films are in permanent collections at major museums like MOMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Some of her films have even been translated into French and Japanese. As mentioned, her 1984 film Hair Piece was added to the National Film Registry in 2018.
In 2018, she was nominated for an NAACP Award for her directing on Queen Sugar. She also won the 1991 Sony Innovator Award and has been honored by the mayors of New York City and Detroit for her contributions to Black cinema.
More Awards and Honors
- Brooklyn Cultural Crossroads Achievement Award, 1981
- Paul Robeson Award, 1984
- First Place/Cultural Affairs of National Black Programming Consortium, 1984
- Mayor's Award for Contributions to the Field —Detroit, 1987
- First Place for Animation (Zajota, The Boogie Spirit), Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, 1990
- Best Producer, National Black Programming Consortium, 1990
- Silver Apple, National Educational Film and Video Festival, 1990
- First Place, Sony Innovator Award in Media, 1991
- First Place, John Hanks Award, 1991
- First Place, Dance Screen, 1992
- Best Overall, Best Drama, Community Choice Award, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 1993
- Apple Computer Distinguished Educator Award (2003)
