# Julius Onah

Julius Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker. He has directed the films The Girl Is in Trouble (2015), The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), Luce (2019), and Captain America: Brave New World (2025).

## Early life

Onah was born in Makurdi, Benue 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 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.

## Career

Onah's work has been 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 the thriller film adaptation Brilliance for Legendary Pictures which David Koepp scripted with Will Smith and Noomi Rapace to star as leads. He then directed The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) with producer J. J. Abrams. His film, Luce, featuring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Kelvin Harrison Jr., premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. He and J.C. Lee wrote the screenplay of the thriller film Bad Genius, a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name. He then directed Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth Captain America film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Anthony Mackie starring in the title role.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2015 | The Girl Is in Trouble | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2018 | The Cloverfield Paradox | Yes | No | No |
| 2019 | Luce | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2024 | Bad Genius | No | Yes | No |
| 2025 | Captain America: Brave New World | Yes | Yes | No |

## Open Continents

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 |
| EUROPE | NIE PATRZ WSTECZ (London Film Festival, Camerimage Grand Jury Award) | Poland | Euro Tales | 2008 |
| EUROPE | DRIK NU AGNES | Denmark | Euro Tales | 2011 |
| AFRICA | GOODBYE CHICKEN, FAREWELL GOAT (Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, True/False Film Festival) | Nigeria | African Days | 2010 |
| AFRICA | BIG MAN (Dubai Film Festival, New York Times, Los Angeles Film Festival) | Nigeria | African Days | 2012 |
| NORTH AMERICA | SHE WAITS IN THE RESTLESS HORIZON | USA | New York Streets | 2005 |
| NORTH AMERICA | LINUS (MTVu Film of the Week, 1st Place Calvin Klein Short Film Competition) | USA | New York Streets | 2007 |
| NORTH AMERICA | THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE | USA | New York Streets | 2015 |
| NORTH AMERICA | MEDITATIONS/A LOVE STORY | USA | American Lives | 2004 |
| NORTH AMERICA | THE BOUNDARY (Amnesty International Movies That Matter, Best Director NBC Short Cuts, HBO) | USA | American Lives | 2008 |
| NORTH AMERICA | "BROKEN ARROWS" (Avicii) | USA | American Lives | 2015 |
| NORTH AMERICA | LUCE | USA | American Lives | 2019 |
| NORTH AMERICA | THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX | USA | Hollywood Lights | 2018 |