Creative PRojects
As a diasporic Igbo woman filmmaker, I am excited by opportunities to tell stories that speak to transatlantic connections. Conversations between the communities I belong to are sometimes marked by misconceptions, stereotypes, and estrangement that dates back to the European slave trade.* My film This Thing Is Not for You (2022) offers an approach to adressing this conflict. This narrative short is set in a near future when the first Black woman president of the United States finally grants Black people reparations. The film homes in on a Nigerian-American family, who wrestles with what this news means for them.
At this juncture in my filmmaking practice, I feel called to turn to documentary to continue exploring my chosen themes of intersectional Igbo identities, intraracial solidarity, and repair. During my PhD at NYU Tisch, I immersed myself in formally innovative gallery-based and cinematic practices. Now, I want to apply what I learned to my work as a filmmaker. I’m also seeking collaborators who can bring both expertise and shared lived experience to the process of birthing these works.
*I borrow this term from Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, author of Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation, heard on Dr. Thema Bryant’s Homecoming Podcast.
This Thing Is Not for You (2022)
Written and Directed by Ifeanyi Awachie
Producers Kalisha Zachery and Kachelle Zachery
Executive Producers Kalisha Zachery and Kachelle Zachery
Cinematographer Russell Reed
Editor Siani Johnson
Music by Tatianna Overton, Andrew Asemokai and Daniel Chimusoro
Cast
Collins Uzowulu — Ifeanyi Dozie
Adwoa Duncan-Williams — Isioma Dozie
Austeen Eboka — Zikorachukwu “Zik” Dozie
Eno Georgette Inwek — Lota Dozie
Veneicia Smith — President Ilhan Farah
Kachelle Zachery — TV Announcer
1st Assistant Director — Kachelle Zachery
Production Assistants — Kalisha Zachery, Kachelle Zachery, Naomi Bautista, Cecily Zachery, Yolanda Wilson
Casting Director — Kachelle Zachery
Casting Assistant — Ifeanyi Awachie
Production Accountant — Kalisha Zachery
Production Legal Provided by — Kadra Alexander, Esquire
Production Office Coordinator — Naomi Bautista
Script Supervisor — Ifeanyi Awachie, Kachelle Zachery
1st Assistant Camera — Long Nguyen
Gaffer — Alex Kovac
Production Designer — Yolanda Wilson
Art Production Assistant — Yvonne Wilson
Wardrobe Assistants — Ifeanyi Awachie, Kachelle Zachery
Location Manager — Kachelle Zachery
Hair Stylist — Adwoa Duncan Williams
Makeup — Martena Cummings
Sound & Boom Operator — Sawyer Pfledderer
Sound Assistant — Nicole Auringer
Sound Editor — Mbela Endeley
Visual Effects Editor — Brian Cottington
Music Supervisor — Candace Coles
Current Projects
SIDE
Limited series
When smooth-talking screenwriter Precious “Presh” Okorie meets polished TV executive Amber Carrington, Presh thinks she’s found the one and the professional connection she needs to launch her career. But larger than life singer Zieozi is a temptation Presh can’t ignore.
This pilot script made it to the quarterfinalist round of consideration for the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative. I appreciate them so much for seeing the vision.
Image credit: Androgynous Fox
Igbo Landing
Short documentary
Two Igbo Americans travel to sunny St. Simon’s Island, GA, to discover Igbo Landing, the real-life site of a legendary act of resistance to slavery.
Image credit: Gennady Zakharin