Obi Emelonye PhD

Chief Executive Officer(CEO)/Principal

Dr. Obi Emelonye, a former professional footballer and law professional, graduated from The University of Nigeria Nsukka with BA (Hons) Dramatic Arts. He went on to study for an LLB Law degree from the University of Wolverhampton. He completed a Post Graduate Degree in Legal Practice from the London Metropolitan University and practiced Law for a few years before focusing on his first love: films. Additionally, he obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from the University of Huddersfield. Finally, Obi Emelonye completed a PhD research at Goldsmith’s, University of London and his authoritative dissertation on Nollywood cinema is presently being published as a book by a renowned publishing house.

Since early 2000 this visionary British-based Nigerian has quickly gained an enviable reputation as one of the brightest creative minds working within Nigeria's burgeoning film industry commonly known as Nollywood. Over the last few years his relentless drive and sense of cinematic style have marked him out as a global pioneer for a bold new cinematic identity for Africa. Obi has secured international distribution for most of his films and set himself apart as a truly international commercial filmmaker. His films have grossed in excess of a million dollars in cinema box office revenue. His credits include the seminal Echoes of War; the multi-award winning THE MIRROR BOY; the record-breaking LAST FLIGHT TO ABUJA; the paradigm-shifting BADAMASI: PORTRAIT OF A GENERAL and the break out international films BLACK MAIL and SAFARI. The consummate African film- OUT OF BREATH, in his own native Igbo language, is his 14th feature film.

In addition to many uncommon accolades, Dr. Emelonye is a visiting lecturer at Harvard University and Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He is also a Fellow of the Graduate School of Goldsmiths University of London. Until recently, Obi was the inaugural lecturer and the module leader for the BA filmmaking programme at the University of Huddersfield. Dr. Obi Emelonye is now firmly established as one of a new generation of Nigeria filmmakers taking the magic of Nollywood to the world with what he calls the ‘quintessential African cinematic voice’. His films have graced international festivals and he has been described as one of the most awarded African contemporary filmmakers.
.Dr. Obi Emelonye, a former professional footballer and law professional, graduated from The University of Nigeria Nsukka with BA (Hons) Dramatic Arts. He went on to study for an LLB Law degree from the University of Wolverhampton. He completed a Post Graduate Degree in Legal Practice from the London Metropolitan University and practiced Law for a few years before focusing on his first love: films. Additionally, he obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from the University of Huddersfield. Finally, Obi Emelonye completed a PhD research at Goldsmith’s, University of London and his authoritative dissertation on Nollywood cinema is presently being published as a book by a renowned publishing house.

Since early 2000 this visionary British-based Nigerian has quickly gained an enviable reputation as one of the brightest creative minds working within Nigeria's burgeoning film industry commonly known as Nollywood. Over the last few years his relentless drive and sense of cinematic style have marked him out as a global pioneer for a bold new cinematic identity for Africa. Obi has secured international distribution for most of his films and set himself apart as a truly international commercial filmmaker. His films have grossed in excess of a million dollars in cinema box office revenue. His credits include the seminal Echoes of War; the multi-award winning THE MIRROR BOY; the record-breaking LAST FLIGHT TO ABUJA; the paradigm-shifting BADAMASI: PORTRAIT OF A GENERAL and the break out international films BLACK MAIL and SAFARI. The consummate African film- OUT OF BREATH, in his own native Igbo language, is his 14th feature film.

In addition to many uncommon accolades, Dr. Emelonye is a visiting lecturer at Harvard University and Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He is also a Fellow of the Graduate School of Goldsmiths University of London. Until recently, Obi was the inaugural lecturer and the module leader for the BA filmmaking programme at the University of Huddersfield. Dr. Obi Emelonye is now firmly established as one of a new generation of Nigeria filmmakers taking the magic of Nollywood to the world with what he calls the ‘quintessential African cinematic voice’. His films have graced international festivals and he has been described as one of the most awarded African contemporary filmmakers.

Professor Osita Okagbue

Director Academics

Osita Okagbue holds a BA (UNN), MA (University of Ibadan), MA (UNN) and PhD (University of Leeds) in Theatre and Performance. He has taught at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Plymouth and currently is a professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. Prof Okagbue teaches courses on African theatre, Caribbean theatre, postcolonial theatre, theatre and race, theatre, culture and the politics of identity. He co-convenes the MA World Performances, Theatres and Cultures, as well as supervising PhD studies.

Professor Okagbue’s main research interests are in African theatre and performance, Caribbean theatre, postcolonial theatre, and theatre-for-development. He has previously held a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship and AHRB Small Grant for his research entitled 'Culture, Identity and Politics in Contemporary African and Caribbean Theatre' in 2001-2. Other grants include a British Academy Larger Research Grant, an AHRB Small Grant and a Research Leave for his research project on indigenous African performances and theatre entitled ‘African Theatres and Performances’ between 2003 and 2005, now published as African Theatres and Performances by Routledge (2007). His other publications include a single-authored book, Culture and Identity in African and Caribbean Theatre (Adonis and Abbey Publishers, 2009) and a co-edited book with Christine Matzke, African Theatre 8: Diasporas (James Currey, 2009), co-edited book, The Palgrave Handbook of Theatre and Race with Tiziana Morosetti (Palgrave, 2021), and co-authored book, Theatre and Performance in East Africa with Samuel Kasule (Routledge, 2021). Professor Okagbue is a theatre director and performer and was invited to direct Mami Wata and the Black Atlantic, a community performance/ritual retracing of the trans-Atlantic slave trade sponsored by the Heritage Lottery and performed in Bristol, Plymouth and Exeter in June-August 2007 to mark 200 years of the Abolition of trans-Atlantic Slavery, and Black Man Don’t Float for Sameboat Productions. He is the founding president of the African Theatre Association (AfTA), the founding Editor and currently Senior Editor of the journal, African Performance Review.