Egúngún (Masquerade)

Olive Nwosu

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olive Nwosu is a BAFTA Pigott 2020 Scholar, Alex Sichel 2020 Fellow at Columbia University School of the Arts, and one of four ‘African Promises 2020’ directors selected by the Institut Français. Olive has written and directed two award-winning short films. ‘Troublemaker’ (2019), set in eastern Nigeria and featuring entirely non-actors, played in over 20 film festivals worldwide. The film received a 2020 National Board of Review Student Award, was nominated for ‘Best Short Film’ at Raindance, and toured France as a collection of African films curated by Clermont Ferrand International Film Festival. Olive’s second film, ‘Egúngún’ (‘Masquerade’) (2021) was commissioned by the British Council and British Film Institute for their MoreFilms4Freedom programme. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before going on to play at Sundance Film Festival, London Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand and Hamptons International Film Festival, where it won Best Narrative Short 2021.