Ishaya Bako (born 30 December 1986) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Early life

He was born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

, where he lived all his life and later moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he studied at the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

Career

After attending the

, Bako went on to script and direct the

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

(AMAA)-winning ''

Braids on a Bald Head ''Braids on a Bald Head'' is a 2010 Nigerian short film directed by Ishaya Bako about the culture of the Hausa people. It won the ''Best Short Film'' award at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards. Clarence Peters was the cinematographer of the f ...

''. He won the Best Short Film Awards at the

8th Africa Movie Academy Awards The 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards ceremony was held on 22 April 2012 at the Expo Centre, Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos, Nigeria to honor the best African films of 2011. The nominees were announced on 17 March 2012 at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Banj ...

. He is an emerging voice of his generation and a member of a select few Global Shapers, a collection of enterprising youths initiated by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. His film, '' Fuelling Poverty'', a documentary on poverty and fuel subsidy in Nigeria, is narrated by Nobel Laureate,

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

. He lives in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, FCT, Nigeria. His film ''

The Royal Hibiscus Hotel ''The Royal Hibiscus Hotel'' is a 2017 Nigerian comedy film directed by Ishaya Bako. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Cast * Zainab Balogun as Ope * Kenneth Okolie as Dej ...

'' was screened at the

2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...

. He also was one of the writers for the movie

Lionheart (2018 film) ''Lionheart'' is a 2018 Nigerian drama film produced by Chinny Onwugbenu and directed by Genevieve Nnaji. It stars Pete Edochie, Genevieve Nnaji, and Nkem Owoh. It was acquired by Netflix on 7 September 2018, making it the first Netflix origi ...

References

Nigerian film directors Nigerian screenwriters Living people 1986 births People from Kaduna State Alumni of the London Film School Covenant University alumni Nigerian film award winners Nigerian documentary filmmakers {{Nigeria-screenwriter-stub

Early life

Career

See also

References