| Julius Onah | |
| Education: | Wesleyan University (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Birth Date: | 10 February 1983 |
| Birth Place: | Okpoma, Cross River State, Nigeria |
| Years Active: | 2002–present |
Julius Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American film director, screenwriter and producer.[1] He has directed the films The Girl Is in Trouble (2015), The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), Luce (2019), and the upcoming (2025).
Onah was born in Okpoma, Cross River State, Nigeria. His father Adoga Onah, was a Nigerian diplomat. He was raised in the Philippines, Nigeria, Togo and the United Kingdom before moving to Arlington County, Virginia. Onah graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA and received his B.A. in theater from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He completed an M.F.A. from the graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he was selected as a Dean's Fellow. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship.[2]
Onah's work has screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Camerimage. In the summer of 2010, he was selected as one of Filmmaker magazine's New Faces of Independent Film. In 2013, he was selected as one of Studio System's 10 Up and Up Feature Directors and Forbes Magazine's 13 African Celebrities To Watch. While at NYU's graduate film program he completed his first feature as his thesis, The Girl Is in Trouble (2015) with executive producer Spike Lee, featuring Alicja Bachleda, Wilmer Valderrama, Columbus Short, and Jesse Spencer. Onah was previously set to direct thriller film adaptation Brilliance for Legendary Pictures which David Koepp scripted with Will Smith and Noomi Rapace to star as leads.[3] [4] He then directed The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)[5] with producer J. J. Abrams. His latest film, Luce featuring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Kelvin Harrison Jr., premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[6] He is set to direct thriller film Bad Genius, a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name.[7] He then directed , the fourth Captain America film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Anthony Mackie starring in the title role.[8]
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | The Girl Is in Trouble | |||
| 2018 | The Cloverfield Paradox | |||
| 2019 | Luce | |||
| 2024 | Bad Genius | |||
| 2025 | ||||
Open Continents is a global media project comprising Onah's short, feature, music video and television work.
| Continent | Title | Country | Subject | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUROPE | SZMOLINSKY (Berlin Film Festival, SXSW Click, Melbourne Film Festival) | Germany | Euro Tales | 2008 |
| NIE PATRZ WSTECZ (London Film Festival, Camerimage Grand Jury Award) | Poland | 2008 | ||
| DRIK NU AGNES | Denmark | 2011 | ||
| AFRICA | GOODBYE CHICKEN, FAREWELL GOAT (Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, True/False Film Festival) | Nigeria | African Days | 2010 |
| BIG MAN (Dubai Film Festival, New York Times, Los Angeles Film Festival) | 2012 | |||
| NORTH AMERICA | SHE WAITS IN THE RESTLESS HORIZON | USA | New York Streets | 2005 |
| LINUS (MTVu Film of the Week, 1st Place Calvin Klein Short Film Competition) | 2007 | |||
| THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE | 2015 | |||
| MEDITATIONS/A LOVE STORY | American Lives | 2004 | ||
| THE BOUNDARY (Amnesty International Movies That Matter, Best Director NBC Short Cuts, HBO) | 2008 | |||
| "BROKEN ARROWS" (Avicii) | 2015 | |||
| LUCE | 2019 | |||
| THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX | Hollywood Lights | 2018 |