Directing
Ayoka Chenzira
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ayoka "Ayo" Chenzira (born November 8, 1953) is an independent African-American producer, film and television director, animator, writer, experimental filmmaker, and transmedia storyteller. She is the first African American woman animator and one of a handful of Black experimental filmmakers working since the late 1970s. Chenzira studied film and photography at The College of New Rochelle and accomplished her M.A. degree in education at Columbia University. She received her B.F.A. degree in film production from New York University. In 1984, Chenzira was one of seven writer/directors selected for the Sundance Institute. She was one of the first African-American women to produce a feature-length film, Alma's Rainbow (1993). She has earned international acclaim for her work. Her work, as well as her efforts as one of the first African American woman film educators, have led some in the press to describe her as a media activist for social justice and challenging representations of African American stereotypes in the mainstream media. She has formed or otherwise been involved with several companies and nonprofits dedicated to Black films, including the Black Filmmakers Foundation, Red Carnelian, and Production Partners. Along with 14 other panelists, Chenzira's contributions for the Minority Task Force on Public Television resulted in the first Multicultural Public Television Fund. She has also served as a media panelist for the Jerome Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Chenzira served as the Chair of the Department of Media and Communication Arts at the City College of New York, where she managed programs in advertising, public relations, journalism, film and video; she also co-created their first M.F.A in media arts production graduate program. In the mid 1990s, Chenzira was consultant to the M-Net Television of South Africa and taught screenwriting and directing in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. In 2001, Chenzira was invited to serve as the first William and Camille Cosby Endowed Professor in the Arts at Spelman College, where she created and directed the award-winning Digital Moving Image Salon (DMIS), a year-long research and documentary production course. Chenzira also created and served as director of Oral Narratives and Digital Technology, a joint venture between Spelman College and the Durham Institute of Technology (DIT) where she designed and taught documentary filmmaking primarily for Zulu students at DIT. She has received numerous accolades, including the 2020 Cultural Innovator Award from Black Women Animate and Cartoon Network, the inclusion of her 2018 work Hair Piece in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, two awards from the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and a NAACP Award nomination. In 2019, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences began to restore and preserve Chenzira's films. She has been honored for her contributions to Black cinema by the then-mayors of New York City and Detroit. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ayoka Chenzira, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting credits
4.0A love story between a Jamaican immigrant and his wife that turns bittersweet when the search for the American dream goes awry.
MOTV (My Own TV)
1993
7.0Chenzira's 1979 tribute to dancer-choreographer Syvilla Fort.
Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum
1979
NRA woman struggles to free herself from the "Keeper of Memory" in this surreal odyssey.
In the Rivers of Mercy Angst
1996
Behind the camera
NRAn experimental short film with themes of machinery, modernization and the human form. Produced as part of a program sponsored by Austrian machinery corporation EMCO.
Williamswood
1992
6.3The teenage daughter of a Brooklyn beauty-parlor owner blossoms under the influence of her recently-returned show-biz aunt.
Alma's Rainbow
1994
6.3The teenage daughter of a Brooklyn beauty-parlor owner blossoms under the influence of her recently-returned show-biz aunt.
Alma's Rainbow
1994
6.3The teenage daughter of a Brooklyn beauty-parlor owner blossoms under the influence of her recently-returned show-biz aunt.
Alma's Rainbow
1994
10.0Openly addressing sensitive issues of slavery and the African diaspora, this animated short traces the origins of funk, soul, and rhythm from the "boogie spirit's" original home in Africa, to its worldwide influence in today's popular culture.
Zajota and the Boogie Spirit
1989
10.0Openly addressing sensitive issues of slavery and the African diaspora, this animated short traces the origins of funk, soul, and rhythm from the "boogie spirit's" original home in Africa, to its worldwide influence in today's popular culture.
Zajota and the Boogie Spirit
1989
4.0A love story between a Jamaican immigrant and his wife that turns bittersweet when the search for the American dream goes awry.
MOTV (My Own TV)
1993
4.0A love story between a Jamaican immigrant and his wife that turns bittersweet when the search for the American dream goes awry.
MOTV (My Own TV)
1993
NRA coming-of-age story that features a reluctant young woman who accidentally falls to Earth and ends up a superhero. Originally conceived as a project which combined live action filmmaking with interaction through video game mechanics.
HERadventure
2013
NRA father struggles to fully embrace the life and death of his gay son.
Snowfire
1994
NRA father struggles to fully embrace the life and death of his gay son.
Snowfire
1994
NRA father struggles to fully embrace the life and death of his gay son.
Snowfire
1994
6.4An animated satire on the question of self-image for African American women living in a society where beautiful hair is viewed as hair that blows in the wind and lets you be free. Lively tunes and witty narration accompany a quick-paced inventory of relaxers, gels, and curlers. This short film has become essential for discussions of racism, African American cinema, and empowerment.
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People
1984
6.4An animated satire on the question of self-image for African American women living in a society where beautiful hair is viewed as hair that blows in the wind and lets you be free. Lively tunes and witty narration accompany a quick-paced inventory of relaxers, gels, and curlers. This short film has become essential for discussions of racism, African American cinema, and empowerment.
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People
1984
6.4An animated satire on the question of self-image for African American women living in a society where beautiful hair is viewed as hair that blows in the wind and lets you be free. Lively tunes and witty narration accompany a quick-paced inventory of relaxers, gels, and curlers. This short film has become essential for discussions of racism, African American cinema, and empowerment.
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People
1984
NRA gay man living through the HIV/AIDS crisis reflects upon his recent history of loss with the help of his grandmother, who tells him a story of her own trauma and loss during the Jim Crow-era South.
Pull Your Head to the Moon: Stories of Creole Women
1992
7.0Chenzira's 1979 tribute to dancer-choreographer Syvilla Fort.
Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum
1979
7.0Chenzira's 1979 tribute to dancer-choreographer Syvilla Fort.
Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum
1979
NRA woman struggles to free herself from the "Keeper of Memory" in this surreal odyssey.
In the Rivers of Mercy Angst
1996
NRA woman struggles to free herself from the "Keeper of Memory" in this surreal odyssey.
In the Rivers of Mercy Angst
1996
NRA woman struggles to free herself from the "Keeper of Memory" in this surreal odyssey.
In the Rivers of Mercy Angst
1996
9.0A collaboration between filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira and performance artist Thomas Pinnock, who performs his "immigrant folktales" using traditional lore of his native Jamaica to dramatize his migration to New York in the 60's.
The Lure and the Lore
1988
9.0A collaboration between filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira and performance artist Thomas Pinnock, who performs his "immigrant folktales" using traditional lore of his native Jamaica to dramatize his migration to New York in the 60's.
The Lure and the Lore
1988
Through interviews with survivors of sexual abuse, parents, social workers, community activists, and abusers thmselves, this piece explores the feelings and experiences of sexually abused children and their families.
Secret Sounds Screaming: The Sexual Abuse of Children
1986