Akosua Adoma Owusu

**Akosua Adoma Owusu** (dem born am January 1, 1984) be Ghanaian-American filmmaker den producer. Ein films explore de colliding identities of black immigrants wey dey America through multiple forms wey dey range from cinematic essays go experimental narratives go reconstructed Black popular media. If we interpret de notion of "double consciousness," wey ebi coin by sociologist den civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, Owusu dey aim say she go create sam third cinematic space or consciousness. For ein work insyd, feminism, queerness, den African dey identities dey interact for African, white American, den black American cultural spaces insyd.

She be current Visiting Lecturer for Harvard University den de Pratt Institute for Brooklyn, New York.

## Ein early life den education
Ebe Ghanaian parents wey born Owusu wey rais dem raise am for sam immigrant community wey dey Alexandria, Virginia. She be de youngest of three siblings for Grace den Albert A. Owusu, Snr. Owusu dey hold master's degrees for de School of Film/Video den School of Fine Art from California Institute of de Arts, wey she get am for 2008 insyd. She graduate plus Bachelors interdisciplinary degree for Media Studies den Studio Art insyd plus distinction from de University of Virginia for 2005 insyd. Owusu start ein career as post-production assistant for Chris Rock ein HBO documentary “Good Hair” (2009). Soon thereafter, she transition go make ein own short, experimental films.

## Ein career
Shortly afta say she graduate from CalArts for 2008 insyd, na Owusu be featured artist of de 56th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar wey renowned critic den film curator Dennis Lim programme am. *Indiewire* name am  as one of de six Avant-Garde Female Filmmakers Wey Redefine Cinema, den one of De Huffington Post‘s Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know, Na Owusu be 2013 MacDowell Colony Fellow den 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.

For 2020 insyd, Owusu receive de Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists Film for Lincoln Center bestow am.

*Indiewire* describe Owusu ein shape-shifting film style:Trafficking for de “complex contradictions” of blackness, displacement den memory, Owusu seamlessly transit between experimental cinema, fine art den African tradition so say ego create avant-garde films wey dey question de nature of identity.

## Ein permanent collections
Dem include ein work for de permanent collections of de Whitney Museum of American Art, de Centre Georges Pompidou, den de Fowler Museum for UCLA.

## Rex Cinema
For 2013 insyd, Owusu launch sam global Kickstarter initiative wey go ‘Save the Rex’! De Rex Cinema be one of Ghana ein oldest cinema houses. During sam tym of political insecurity for Ghana insyd for de 60s, 70s den 80s, na sam decline dey for Arts insyd. Dem close all of de cinema houses down for de wake of military coups den curfews. Owusu try save Rex Cinema for de purpose say she go preserve cinema houses. For 2016 insyd, Owusu develop sam screenplay wey edey base on ein global campaign give Save de Rex Cinema for Ghana insyd for de Camargo Foundation wey dey Cassis, France. For 2017 insyd, *De Guardian* announce say na Owusu dey work for sam part-real life, part-fictionalized feature film about ein campaign so say ego restore de historic Rex cinema. 

## Ein international accomplishments
For 2015 insyd, Two films wey Owusu direct den produce na ebe critics' picks for Artforum magazine insyd.

Na Owusu ein film *Reluctantly Queer* be one of critics’ best films of 2016 for Sight den Sound, sam monthly film magazine wey British Film Institute (BFI) publish am.

For 2016 insyd, Britain's Royal African Society name Owusu as dema Human of de Week den South Africa's *Elle (magazine)* too as one of 50 incredible women.

For 2017 insyd, dem name am for *Dazed* magazine insyd as one of ten experimental filmmakers wey dey tackle de world ein big topics.

For 2018 insyd, Cobo Center commission Owusu say make she produce sam video installation along Jefferson den Washington avenues for downtown Detroit, Michigan during Black History Month.

Goethe-Institut Vila Sul award Owusu sam artist-in-residence for Salvador wey dey Bahia Brazil, for 2018 insyd, along plus celebrated British installation artist den filmmaker Isaac Julien.

Owusu participate as distinguished juror for de 57th annual Ann Arbor Film Festival wey she present sam special program wey dem dedicate for ein body of work.

For 2019 insyd, she lead sam workshop for filmmakers, critics den researchers for Triple Consciousness for Cinema Camp wey be annual four-day long summer event wey Meno Avilys Film Center dey organize wey dem dey base for Vilnius wey dey Lithuania.

Owusu ein film *White Afro* receive de Premio Medien Patent Verwaltung AG prize for Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) section of de 2019 Locarno Festival for Switzerland. Dem subtitle de film for three central European languages insyd.

Owusu ein film *Pelourinho: They Don't Really Care About Us* na ebe one of critics’ best films of 2019 for Sight and Sound magazine wey British Film Institute (BFI) publish insyd.

## Ein selected exhibitions

* 2020: *Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle* for de Museum of Modern Art Documentary Fortnight
* 2019: *Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle* for Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans)
* 2019: *Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle* for Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
* 2019: *Between Three Worlds: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for REDCAT
* 2019: *Triple Consciousness: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
* 2019: *Sala de Video: Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de São Paulo Museum of Art
* 2019: *Triple Consciousness: Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond

* 2019: *Screening: Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
* 2018: *Triple Consciousness* for BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels;
* 2018: *African Twilight* for de Bowers Museum;
* 2018: *Fragments of a Dream* for de McNay Art Museum;
* 2018: *Screening and Conversation with Director Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Fowler Museum for UCLA;
* 2017: *Akosua Adoma Owusu and Bus Nut* for de Atlanta Contemporary Art Center;
* 2016: *Making Africa: Akosua Adoma Owusu* for Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
* 2016: *Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for Tabakalera
* 2016: *Encuentro con Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
* 2016: *L'évènement Akosua Adoma Owusu* for e Centre Georges Pompidou
* 2016: *Triple Consciousness* for de Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
* 2016: *Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905–2016* for de Whitney Museum of American Art
* 2015: *Modern Mondays: An Evening with Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Museum of Modern Art
* 2015: *Existential Crisis* for de Rochester Art Center
* 2015: *America Is Hard to See* for de Whitney Museum of American Art
* 2015: *The Art of Hair in Africa* for de Fowler Museum for UCLA
* 2015: *Two Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for Art and Practice  insyd association plus de Hammer Museum
* 2015: *Do/Tell* for de Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
* 2014: *Prospect.3: Notes for Now* New Orleans Triennial
* 2013: *Films by Akosua Adoma Owusu* for de Moderna Museet
* 2012: *Fore* for de Studio Museum in Harlem
* 2012: *The Bearden Project* for de Studio Museum for Harlem insyd
* 2011: *VideoStudio: Changing Same* for de Studio Museum for Harlem insyd
* 2011: *Quadruple Consciousness* for de Vox Populi (art gallery)
* 2009: *30 Seconds Off an Inch* for de Studio Museum in Harlem
* 2009: *Me Broni Ba* for de Museum of Modern Art Documentary Fortnight

## Ein awards den nominations

## Ein filmography

### Filmography

## Further reading

* Owusu, Akosua Adoma, and Adwoa Adu-Gyamfi. *Me broni ba*. New York, NY: Cinema Guild (2009).
* Baron, Jaimie. *Inappropriate Bodies: Contemporary Filmmakers Challenging Gender Constructions through Appropriation.* [1] UCLA Center for the Study of Women (2009).
* Birchall, Danny. *Things Said Again* (2010) Film Quarterly Volume 63, Issue 3, pg. 55-57
* Nelmes, Jill. *Introduction to Film Studies* (2012) [2]
* Dovey, Lindiwe. *African Feminist Engagements with Film* (2012) [3], p. 18-23.
* Mask, Mia, Contemporary Black American Cinema: Race, Gender and Sexuality at the Movies (2012).
* Kendall, Nzingha, Commentary: Haunting in Akosua Adoma Owusu's Short Experimental Films (2013). *Black Camera*
* Agyeman, Erica. Akosua Adoma Owusu: Exploring 'Threeness, *The International Review of African American Art* 24.3 (2013), 11–13.
* Prabhu, Anjali. *Contemporary Cinema of Africa and the Diaspora* [4] (2014).
* Laderman, David. *Sampling Media* [5] (2014).
* UNESCO. *Égalité des genres: patrimoine et créativité* [6] (2014).
* Ellerson, Beti. *Gaze Regimes: Film And Feminisms In Africa* (2015) [7]
* Johnson, Elizabeth. *Female Narratives in Nollywood Melodramas* (2016) [8], p. 113.
* Kelly, Gabrielle. *Celluloid Ceiling: Women Film Directors Breaking Through* (2018) [9]
* Lené Hole, Kristin. *Film Feminisms: A Global Introduction* [10] (2018).
* Bisschoff, Lizelle. *Women in African Cinema: Beyond the Body Politic.* [11] (2019).
* Nyeck, S.N. *Routledge Handbook of Queer African Studies* [12] (2019).
* Williams, James S. *Ethics and Aesthetics in Contemporary African Cinema: The Politics of Beauty* [13] (2019).
* Dasilva, Dax. *Age of Union: Igniting The Changemaker* [14] (2020).
* Huberman, Anthony. *Abbas to Yuki: Writing Alongside Exhibitions* [15] (2020).

## References