Jenn Nkiru is a Nigerian-British artist and director. She is known for directing the music video for

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's " Brown Skin Girl" and for being the second unit director of Ricky Saiz’s video for Beyoncé and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, " APESHIT" which was released in 2018. She was selected to participate in the 2019 Whitney Biennial.

Early years and education

Nkiru was born in

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, South London. She studied law before moving to the United States, where she attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

and graduated with a MFA in Filmmaking.

Career

Short films

Her directorial debut was ''En Vogue,'' which was shot by

Bradford Young Bradford Marcel Young, A.S.C (born July 6, 1977) is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work on the films '' Selma'', ''A Most Violent Year'' (both 2014), '' Arrival'' (2016)—which earned him a nomination for an Academy Award ...

and

Arthur Jafa Arthur Jafa (; born Arthur Jafa Fielder, November 30, 1960) is an American video artist and cinematographer. Early life and education Jafa was born on November 30, 1960, in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which was ...

was released in 2014. In 2017, Nkiru created a film titled ''Celebrating Women In Art'' for the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

gallery that showcased female contemporary artists in celebration of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

. That same year, her second movie ''Rebirth is Necessary'' was released. This movie was featured on

Nowness Nowness (stylized NOWNESS) is a digital video channel that was launched in 2010 by its founder Jefferson Hack as a brand of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

and won several awards including, the Canal+ Award at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and the Best Documentary at the

London Independent Film Festival The London Independent Film Festival is a British film festival that takes place annually in April. It was founded by Erich Schultz and specialises in low-budget independent films. It offers a screenplay competition and distribution fair. Hist ...

. ''Rebirth is Necessary'' was also nominated for the 2018 best short film award at Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival. Her video work is included in the

Afrofuturist Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture ...

Period Room exhibition Before Yesterday We Could Fly at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Music videos

Nkiru has directed music videos for Beyoncé,

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Tii Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American arranger, composer and jazz saxophonist. Archived July 9, 2015. He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raise ...

and

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

. She was the second unit director of Ricky Saiz’s video for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, " APESHIT" . In 2020 she directed the critically acclaimed music video for Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl", which won the

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. ...

award at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Works

* ''En Vogue'' * ''Rebirth is Necessary'' * ''Black to Techno'' * "OUT/ SIDE OF TIME", commissioned for the Met exhibition '' Before Yesterday We Could Fly''

Awards

* 2018 - Voice of a Woman award at Cannes *2019 - Aesthetica Art Prize *2021- Grammy Award for Best Music Video for ''BROWN SKIN GIRL''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkiru, Jenn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Artists from the London Borough of Southwark Black British artists Black British filmmakers English music video directors English people of Nigerian descent Film directors from London Howard University alumni People from Peckham