Jamal Ademola

Acting

Jamal Ademola

Jamal Ademola is a Nigerian-American artist and filmmaker whose work moves fluidly between cinema, advertising, and fine art, spanning narrative, documentary, animation, installation, acting, and performance. His storytelling blends the intimate and the surreal to create vivid visual narratives exploring Black identity, memory, migration, ancestry, and belonging. His documentary work includes "House of Aama: Threads of Legacy" for PBS American Masters, supported by Firelight Media, and "The Blind Couple from Mali", a feature documentary on Grammy-nominated musicians Amadou & Mariam, for which he served as Creative Director. As an actor, Jamal appeared in "Imagine a Moon Colony", part of Hulu's TV series "Your Attention Please", and in the feature film "Ten-Cent Daisy", available on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi. Jamal's artwork and films have been exhibited internationally at LACMA (2026), African Film Festival New York (2026, 2025), Seattle Black Film Festival (2026, 2025), Black Harvest Film Festival (2025), Silicon Valley African Film Festival (2025), Albany Institute of History and Art (2025), DOC NYC (2024), Images Festival (2024), Wassaic Project (2024), August Wilson African American Cultural Center (2024), Alchemy Film & Arts (2023, 2022), Kala Art Institute, Black Cultural Archives in London, The New School, and PBS. He is currently directing "Pieces of You", a romantic visual autoethnography, and "They Came from the Clouds", a feature documentary supported by Comcast NBCUniversal, BAVC Media, PAM-CUT, and Kala Art Institute. Across mediums, his practice moves between lived experience, dreams, poetics, and imagined worlds, using storytelling as a way to explore who we are and where we come from.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy poster
NR

Filmmaker Jamal Ademola documents Akua Shabaka and her mother, Rebecca Henry, the creative minds behind the acclaimed fashion label House of Aama, as they journey to Accra, Ghana, seeking solace and inspiration after the death of Akua’s father Jamaiel Shabaka. Back in Los Angeles, they reflect on their stunning past collections that weave African folklore and migration stories from across the diaspora. Their reflections culminate in Sun Records, a magnificent ode to Free Jazz. Along the way, Akua uncovers unexpected and profound truths about her father. Executive produced by Monika Navarro and EmmoLei Sankofa.

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy

2024

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy poster
NR

Filmmaker Jamal Ademola documents Akua Shabaka and her mother, Rebecca Henry, the creative minds behind the acclaimed fashion label House of Aama, as they journey to Accra, Ghana, seeking solace and inspiration after the death of Akua’s father Jamaiel Shabaka. Back in Los Angeles, they reflect on their stunning past collections that weave African folklore and migration stories from across the diaspora. Their reflections culminate in Sun Records, a magnificent ode to Free Jazz. Along the way, Akua uncovers unexpected and profound truths about her father. Executive produced by Monika Navarro and EmmoLei Sankofa.

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy

2024

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy poster
NR

Filmmaker Jamal Ademola documents Akua Shabaka and her mother, Rebecca Henry, the creative minds behind the acclaimed fashion label House of Aama, as they journey to Accra, Ghana, seeking solace and inspiration after the death of Akua’s father Jamaiel Shabaka. Back in Los Angeles, they reflect on their stunning past collections that weave African folklore and migration stories from across the diaspora. Their reflections culminate in Sun Records, a magnificent ode to Free Jazz. Along the way, Akua uncovers unexpected and profound truths about her father. Executive produced by Monika Navarro and EmmoLei Sankofa.

House of Aama: Threads of Legacy

2024

I Dreamed of Seeing Myself poster
NR

A dream dance of celestial stars illuminate the mystery of a primordial African odyssey. Yrsa Daley Ward breathes life into this otherworldly journey, guided by the soulful resonance of Tunde Adebimpe's voice and poetry written by Jamal Ademola. I Dreamed of Seeing Myself beckons viewers to transcend the constraints of Black trauma and modern white supremacy, persuading them to ponder the lyrical depths of Blackness as the cosmic human beginning.

I Dreamed of Seeing Myself

2024

I Dreamed of Seeing Myself poster
NR

A dream dance of celestial stars illuminate the mystery of a primordial African odyssey. Yrsa Daley Ward breathes life into this otherworldly journey, guided by the soulful resonance of Tunde Adebimpe's voice and poetry written by Jamal Ademola. I Dreamed of Seeing Myself beckons viewers to transcend the constraints of Black trauma and modern white supremacy, persuading them to ponder the lyrical depths of Blackness as the cosmic human beginning.

I Dreamed of Seeing Myself

2024

They Came From The Clouds poster
NR

In the mythical landscapes of Oaxaca, three young Afro-Mexicans, José David, Fanni, and Marlen, search for meaning in a place that has made Blackness invisible. José David lives with the mystery of a brother who vanished into the Pacific. Fanni yearns for the mother who crossed the border when she was a child. Marlen puts together the pieces of her family's past. As they come of age, the familial ghosts of migration converge with ancestral visions, magic, and ritual, blurring the boundaries between what was lost, what remains, and where they belong.

They Came From The Clouds

2027

They Came From The Clouds poster
NR

In the mythical landscapes of Oaxaca, three young Afro-Mexicans, José David, Fanni, and Marlen, search for meaning in a place that has made Blackness invisible. José David lives with the mystery of a brother who vanished into the Pacific. Fanni yearns for the mother who crossed the border when she was a child. Marlen puts together the pieces of her family's past. As they come of age, the familial ghosts of migration converge with ancestral visions, magic, and ritual, blurring the boundaries between what was lost, what remains, and where they belong.

They Came From The Clouds

2027

Who Should I Be In The World? poster
NR

An experimental dreamscape, "Who Should I Be in the World?" follows Tifeny Moreria, a first-generation Afro-diasporic immigrant navigating the deep psychological complexities of cultural assimilation. Moving through a Western society that demands the suppression of her native identity, she constantly grapples with alien languages, shifting cultural expectations, and the lingering generational trauma of Portuguese colonization. Director Jamal Ademola entirely rejects standard linear storytelling, instead masterfully blending live-action footage, historical archival clips, and vivid animation. This striking mixed-media approach beautifully mirrors the fragmented, multi-layered nature of memory and heritage. The film is a poetic, deeply intimate exploration of identity, survival, and the profound cost of belonging in a displaced world.

Who Should I Be In The World?

2020

Who Should I Be In The World? poster
NR

An experimental dreamscape, "Who Should I Be in the World?" follows Tifeny Moreria, a first-generation Afro-diasporic immigrant navigating the deep psychological complexities of cultural assimilation. Moving through a Western society that demands the suppression of her native identity, she constantly grapples with alien languages, shifting cultural expectations, and the lingering generational trauma of Portuguese colonization. Director Jamal Ademola entirely rejects standard linear storytelling, instead masterfully blending live-action footage, historical archival clips, and vivid animation. This striking mixed-media approach beautifully mirrors the fragmented, multi-layered nature of memory and heritage. The film is a poetic, deeply intimate exploration of identity, survival, and the profound cost of belonging in a displaced world.

Who Should I Be In The World?

2020