Ekwa Msangi is a Tanzanian-American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. She teaches Production and Cultural Studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Early life

Msangi was born to immigrants in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, California. Her parents were

Fulbright scholars The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

who attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the 1980s. She was raised in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

after her family moved there when she was five years old. In 1998, Msangi was accepted into the NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in film and television. Initially discouraged and confused, her trajectory changed after she took a course given by African film historian Manthia Diawara. She earned an MA in African cinema from

Gallatin School of Individualized Study The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is a liberal arts school within New York University. Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary concentration based on their specific interests and career goals. Most courses can be taken at any ...

at the same university.

Career

She launched her career in producing, then went on to make award-winning short films such as comedy ''Soko Sonko'' (''The Market King'') and television series for Kenyan broadcasters. Her films have been official selections at several world festivals including New York African and Durban International. She is best known for her feature film '' Farewell Amor'', which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim.

Selected works

*2009: Block-D * 2011: Taharuki (short) * 2016: ''Soko Sonko'' (short) * 2016: ''Farewell Meu Amor'' (short) * 2020: '' Farewell Amor''

External links

*
Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Msangi, Ekwa Film directors from California Tanzanian film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Tanzanian women film directors American women film directors