Anthony Onah (born February 10, 1983) is an Nigerian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his debut feature, '' The Price'' (2017), which premiered at the 2017

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award. The film was also nominated for the FIPRESCI Prize in the ''New American Cinema Competition'' at the 2017

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

, and Onah won the Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker Award for the film at the 2017

Indie Memphis Film Festival Indie Memphis, located in Memphis, TN, is an arts organization that runs year-round programs that "inspire, encourage and promote independent films and filmmaking in Memphis."

. In the summer of 2015, he was named to

Filmmaker Magazine ''Filmmaker'' is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP (Independent Film ...

's list o
25 New Faces of Independent Film

Early life and education

Onah was born in

Benue State Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is th ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He grew up moving around with his ambassador father, Adoga Onah. After having lived in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, his family settled in

Arlington, VA Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Onah studied as an undergraduate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he earned a degree in biochemical sciences, receiving the Pechet Foundation grant given to junior biochemistry majors and the

Thomas T. Hoopes Prize The Hoopes Prize is an award given annually to Harvard University undergraduates. The prize was endowed by Thomas T. Hoopes, Class of 1919. Awarded for outstanding scholarly work or research by students, recipients are selected by a committee of f ...

for outstanding scholarly work. Accepted at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

for graduate school, Onah turned down admission, instead working as a scientist during which time he was published in

The Journal of Neuroscience ''The Journal of Neuroscience'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Society for Neuroscience. It covers empirical research on all aspects of neuroscience. Its editor-in-chief is Marina Picciotto (Yale University). Accordin ...

, and subsequently chose to attend the MFA program in film directing at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he was admitted with a university fellowship. He received the Hollywood Foreign Press Award and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Fellowship. He was also named to

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

's list of 10 Exciting New Voices. In 2011, Onah was selected as a directing fellow b
Film Independent
and in 2012 as a directing talent at th
Berlin Talent Campus
His twin brother,

Julius Onah Julius Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and occasional actor.

, is also a director, with his second feature film ''

The Cloverfield Paradox ''The Cloverfield Paradox'' is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abramss Bad Robot Productions. It is the third film in the ...

'' released in 2018.

Films

Onah’s films include ''The Cure'', which was recognized by

mtvU MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel was first known as VH1 Uno from 2000 to ...

, won a 2008

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

, and was featured in

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. His next film ''True Colors'' world premiered at the 2011

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...

. Onah subsequently completed ''A History of Violence'' with renowned cognitive psychologist

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

and ''Dara Ju'', which won him a second student

in 2012. With ''Dara Ju,'' Onah also won the first

Afrinolly Afrinolly is a mobile application (App) which enables African entertainment enthusiasts to watch African movies, movie trailers, short films and music videos that have been made public by content owners or their legal representative most especiall ...

Short Film Competition, Africa's most prestigious Short Film Competition awarding a $25,000 cash prize. His debut feature, '' The Price'', premiered at

in March 2017. The film received support from the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

, IFP,

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, an
Film Independent

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onah, Anthony 1983 births Living people People from Arlington County, Virginia Harvard University alumni UCLA Film School alumni Film directors from Virginia American people of Nigerian descent American screenwriters