I read so much as a child. I feel like my real roots in storytelling start from being a huge reader, and I would write a lot of prose; a lot of bad prose when I was ten. But I loved to write and read. And if you’d ask me then, I think I would have said that I would have loved to be a writer, a novelist. And then I lost that along the way and, you know, you then go to secondary school, and I studied sciences, and then I went to college to study engineering actually. So, the coincidence of it was that I went to a school that really pushed you to take classes outside of your requirement. I was taking chemistry and physics and maths classes, but I also took a cinema class because I always loved watching films. It was very much like, “Oh! This is very exotic, I’m going to go take that class.” And yeah, I just really fell in love with it in a way I could not have conceived of until it happened. And that kind of began this whole journey into filmmaking in a conscious way. It took a long time — I had to convince my family! They’re very Nigerian. They were like, “What are you talking about? We’ve let you go to this university in America with a scholarship to study engineering and now you’re telling us that you want to study film?” So, it took a long time to get from there to where I am. But I will say it has definitely been a combination of being open to what the universe shows you and then being conscious when it does show you something enough to pursue it.

So what’s something that you’ve taken from film school that you will carry with you for the rest of your career or life? It could be a broad life lesson or it could be something that exclusively pertains to your craft.

The big thing for me … In fact, there are two things. [The life lesson is that] I love to learn. I think that’s what it is. So that willingness to learn and to keep learning always, I’ll take with me. And specifically to film, learning from the masters — there are so many people who have made films before us, who continue to make films — and there was this period where I was like, “I want to make something new, I don’t want to be too affected by all these other artists!” But in film school, I really learnt that you have to know the tradition you come from to then push it forward. So I started immersing myself in the tradition of film and cinema. There are a lot of art forms that you can use for inspiration, and of course you’re still your own individual person that has their own culture and history, but it’s that sort of alchemy of both that allows something new to form.

Diving into some of your film work: your short Troublemakers’ cast was made up entirely of non-actors. It was also a student film. So you’re a student and on top of that you’re dealing with people who are not professional actors as well! How did you navigate directing people who have no experience in acting or aren’t really interested in pursuing acting as a career?

It’s really two things. [Firstly] it’s casting the right people. I think anyone can act. But I think, especially with non-actors, you have to cast someone who you already can feel the essence of the character you’ve created in them. Like, there should be something that reminds you of the character you want them to play. And that makes it easier because they just show up as themselves already and that’s half the worst to be honest. And then the second half is casting people who have this playfulness to them. I think acting is just play. It’s like being open to imagining and playing and not taking yourself too seriously and being at ease. I think once people find that in themselves, then they can — we can all — act, I think. I mean, we all do act already, in life. We have all of these different roles we play. With Troublemaker particularly, it was amazing with the kids. I find that kids are easier sometimes, because they still have that playful spirit in them. And the work was actually for me to find the kid in myself so we could all be kids playing. They’re amazing, those boys. They were just so natural and it made Troublemaker so much better. So yeah, allowing them to be comfortable. A lot of it was improv, we just did a lot of improv work beforehand and just really encouraged them.

In your short talk with Cafe Court for the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, you briefly discussed the notion of wanting to put forceful African characters on screen, in the sense that you want characters to have his force about them that demands your attention. And Salewa, the protagonist from Egungun, was definitely a character with force. When directing or writing, how do you articulate this force through character and/or how the character is visually represented on screen?

Hm. … A good question; answer’s hard to articulate. (Laughs) Why I love film as much as I do is it’s just feeling, right? I think there are just some things you can’t put into words. It’s a combination of the script and the sound and the camera and everything that creates that moment of potent feeling. To describe it with language … I don’t know [if] I’m able to do it. But for me, I think the way I think about it is: I really love characters who are so fierce or have unique self determination. They’re like, “I must be who I am, at whatever cost.” So knowing that sense when I write, what kind of choices does that person make, what do they wear, what do they do, how do they sit — you need to infuse it into every detail of who they are. I try to visualise that. Similarly, when you cast and when you work with an actor … I love working with actors who already have that quality in them and who aren’t afraid. I think it’s a boldness. They’re not afraid to try and to think outside the box and to do crazy shit. And Shiela, who played Salewa, is just amazing at that. Just as a woman, she’s such a force, and she was so game to the process. There’s this scene [in Egúngún] in the market, and we’re like, “yeah, Salewa wouldn’t be wearing her shoes here because they’re heels.” And then she [Shiela] is like, “Okay!” and just takes off her heels in that disgusting market! She’s just there plodding and fully committed and … it’s just that kind of strength of character, I think, is what makes me fall in love with these people and is what makes me like to write about them.

Besides filmmaking, do you have any other artistic outlets — you have briefly touched on this though! But maybe you have others — now or as a child that really contribute to the way you create films now?

It’s funny. As a kid, what were my hobbies? I used to act actually, when I was younger. I used to love to act. And now, I would never act anymore. I’m happy to be behind the camera. But I think playing make-believe [was a hobby]. Because I used to write a lot. I wrote these ridiculous stories and honestly, I lived a lot in my imagination. That was my hobby! I used to just daydream. I did that a lot. These days, I write poetry. I really love that. I really think it’s very freeing and different from film. Screenwriting, for better or for worse, is very structured and poetry is just the opposite where I can freely express myself. I don’t have to make sense of things. And that feels like a really good counter-balance to screenwriting. I’d say that’s the main thing. I don’t know, for me, like … I don’t know how this is going to sound, but for me, I think you can infuse creativity and art into everything and into the everyday. For me, it’s about how you live in a way that is always open to new possibilities and imagination. And I really try to embody that daily where I can.

You have the opportunity to experience a three course meal with three different filmmakers or writers. Who would you have as your starter, your main course and your dessert? They can be dead or alive.

Wow! (Laughs) That’s tough. Let me think. … Starter would probably be Agnès Varda, the French filmmaker. She just had this love of life! She started out making fiction films but then she just started making these film documents and it didn’t matter what it was. She would just capture something on a camera that she thought was important, so she made documentaries, and then she made these hybrid films, and then she made these films that she was in, and films about her family. She was a part of the French new wave actually. So, she would be one of them — she would be the starter. Who would be the main? … Hm, main is someone you want to dig into it with, right? … She’s not a filmmaker, but Chimamanda Adiche. I would want to sit down and hear her thoughts and understand how she sees things. I feel like we would have so much to discuss! I met her briefly recently and I was like, “you and I could be friends!” so probably her. … I would want someone funny for dessert, someone silly. … Maybe Andrea Arnold. I know her films are intense, but she seems like such a fun woman. I saw her film Cow last year at a festival and she introduced it and she just seemed so down to earth. I’m interested in films, but I’m also interested in the people that make them and who they are. And it would be amazing to speak with a working female director right now. I want to hear about how they sustain their work and their life at the same time.

What’s an obstacle you’ve had to overcome as a Black woman in this industry?

I mean, it’s early days for me in the industry itself. So I don’t know yet. I think half of it, if I’m honest, is the self-inflicted feelings of inferiority or fear more than anything else. It’s still a process, but claiming my place and showing up fully as myself and not being too concerned about how that will be received. You need to fight that imposter syndrome that can come, especially when people don’t look like you in a space. So a lot of it is about the internal self-work so far that I need to do to fully show up. If I can do that, then whatever people throw at me, I’ll figure out one way or another.

What has been your proudest moment as a filmmaker thus far?

Getting Troublemaker on Criterion Channel. It’s the first Igbo language film on there. It’s the fact that this little film we made in this village, that is really a true work of love in the village that I’m from, is now on this platform that houses so many of the great films of history. Yeah, that just feels very significant. For me, but also for the broader context as well. And we made it with no money! Making that film was so hard.

Making a film is a lot! And I’m sure you normally work with small crews so everything is sized down. What do you enjoy the most about working with people intimately?

It’s interesting because I’m working on a feature now and it will have a bigger budget, so I’m curious to see how that will change, but I never want it to feel like we’re just making a product. I feel like it’s so important to have the process be a really meaningful one with people who really care about the work and who are not just there for the money. I think, as you make bigger and bigger films, it seems you’re just paying people to come and make this film for you. And, for me, the process really matters. Obviously you should pay your crew if you want to and if you can, but it’s not about money and shouldn’t be about money. It should be about believing in what we’re doing. And I think you feel that difference on a set. Even when I was making films with my friends years ago, there’s this beautiful thing that happens when we’re all making something because we love it ,and there’s a freedom and a love that happens that I don’t want to lose. And that’s much easier with a smaller crew.

What advice would you offer to young Black femme filmmakers who are struggling to find their narrative voice?

Don’t be afraid to write and say what you really care about. Find that thing you really care about, that you think about, that you stay up about, that you talk about. In my early twenties, I was making films that … I mean, I liked them but they weren’t mine, really. They were what I thought I should be making and what I thought would be well received. I wasn’t burning. I think a real shift happened for me in my career when I started making things that I’m really passionate about and things that scare me, frankly, because they’re not obvious and they’re not clear. Leaning into that, you’ll figure out the things you do care about ultimately and that’s what you should be making films around.