C.J. Obasi (also known as "Fiery" or "The Fiery One") is a Nigerian film director, screenwriter and editor. His debut feature – a zero budget film '' Ojuju'' premiered at the

Africa International Film Festival The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Nigeria. It was founded in 2010 with its Inaugural edition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. AFRIFF was founded by Chioma Ude a passionate film ...

in November 2014, and won the award for Best Nigerian Film. It also got him the Trailblazer of the Year award in March 2015, at the

Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards The ''Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards'' (AMVCA) are a set of accolades presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film across Africa,, through an annual ceremony hosted in the Exhibition Center of the Eko ...

(AMVCA). His third feature,

Mami Wata Mami Wata, Mammy Water, or similar is a mermaid, water spirit, and/or goddess in the folklore of parts of Western Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Historically, scholars trace her origins to early encounters between Europeans and ...

, premiered at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * '' The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee ...

and won the Special Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition for the film's cinematography. �

Early life and career

Born in the city of

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Nigeria, Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Loc ...

, the capital city of Imo State, Nigeria, Obasi grew up watching

Hammer Horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

films, reading

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

novels and watching film adaptations of his work. From the young age of 3, he would watch classic films and his favorite superheroes and villains; recreating them in hand-drawn comic books. After attending the Government Secondary School, Owerri, Obasi studied computer science at the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal and public research university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, South-east Nigeria. Founded in 1955 by Nnamdi Azikiwe who was Governor-General of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963 ...

, Nsukka (UNN),

Enugu State Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

, southeastern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. In 2012, he set up Fiery Film Company, with his wife, the TV and film producer, Oge Obasi and the late screenwriter Benjamin Stockton. Obasi's directorial debut came in 2014 with '' Ojuju''; a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

. The movie was screened in various festivals around the world, including the

Pan African Film Festival Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a non-profit corporation in Los Angeles, California, United States, that states its goal is to promote "cultural understanding among peoples of African descent" through exhibiting art and film. It hosts a film ...

in Los Angeles, Shockproof Film Festival in Prague, New Voices in Black Film Festival in New York, Nollywood Week Festival in Paris,

Fantasia Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

in Montreal, Africa International Film Festival where it won the award of the Best Nigerian Film and others; garnering universal acclaim from the likes of internationally renowned critics such as Todd Brown of ''

Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

'', Tambay A. Obenson of ''Shadow and Act'', and

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor ''Th ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''. Remarkably, ''Ojuju'' is a zero budget movie. His second film, ''

O-Town O-Town is an American boy band formed from the first season of the reality television series '' Making the Band'' in 2000. As of 2015, the group consists of Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Dan Miller. The original lin ...

'', was released in 2015 to even more critical acclaim. A crime thriller, ''O-Town'', also written by Obasi, tells the tale of a small town mired in crime. ''O-Town'' was inspired by Owerri, the place where Obasi was born. In 2018, Obasi directed the film adaptation of

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels '' Who Fears ...

's africanfuturistic short story "Hello, Moto". The short film, ''Hello, Rain'', stars Keira Hewatch as Rain, a scientist and witch. In February 2017, Fiery Film Production optioned the short story and began production. It had its world premiere at the

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International ...

, on 6 May 2018. Mami Wata Obasi first came up with and began developing ''Mami Wata'' in 2016. After writing a few drafts, he took part in a number of labs to help refine the script. In an interview with

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, Obasi stated he "wanted to make a hyper-stylised film" with its style rooted in substance, taking inspiration from his favourite filmmakers such as

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

and

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

. The characters Prisca and Zinwe were inspired by Obasi's late sisters. Production companies attached to ''Mami Wata'' include Obasi's Fiery Film Company, Guguru Studios, Palmwine Media, Swiss Fund Visions Sud Est, and Ifind Pictures of France. Principal photography took place on location in the rural villages of

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and wrapped in January 2021. At the Sundance Film Festival, cinematographer Lílis Soares won the Special Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition for the film's cinematography. It also picked up three awards at

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

- Prix de la Critique Pauline S. Vieyra (African Critics Award), Meilleure Image (Cinematography Award) and Meilleur Décor (Set Design Award). It was acquired by Dekanalog for North American distribution. In October 2023, it was selected as the Nigerian entry for Best International Feature Film at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

by The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC). It has been nominated in the Best International Film category of the 39th Independent Spirit Awards.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obasi, C.J. Living people Nigerian film directors Year of birth missing (living people) University of Nigeria alumni People from Owerri AMVCA Trailblazer Award winners Nigerian screenwriters Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards winners