Naima Ramos-Chapman is an American director, writer, and actress. She directed two short films that deal with

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

, ''And Nothing Happened'' in 2016, and ''Piu Piu'' in 2018.

Life and career

Ramos-Chapman was raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She is of Puerto Rican and Black descent. She studied dance from childhood and attended the Alvin Ailey School for Dance. Ramos-Chapman graduated from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. The first film Ramos-Chapman wrote and directed was the 2016 short ''And Nothing Happened''. She used

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

and worked several jobs to finance the film. The film, which she stars in, was inspired by her trauma in the aftermath of a sexual assault. She stated in an interview with ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'', "It is not only a thing one person survives–sexual assault is something a whole family, community, nation survives and until we understand that we cannot truly confront it. That is why I made ''And Nothing Happened''." In 2018, Ramos-Chapman wrote and directed ''Piu Piu'', a "psycho surrealist" short that premiered at the 2018

BlackStar Film Festival The BlackStar Film Festival is a Philadelphia film festival focused on films about and by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world. It has been described as the "Black Sundance. The festival is named after Marcus Garvey's shipping ...

. ''Piu Piu'' is loosely based on an experience Ramos-Chapman had been stalked by a stranger in public. Ramos-Chapman is a writer, director, and actor for HBO's ''

Random Acts of Flyness ''Random Acts of Flyness'' is an American late-night sketch comedy television series created by Terence Nance that premiered on August 4, 2018 on HBO. Additionally, Nance appears in each episode of the series which he also wrote, directed, and e ...

''. She also edits and does production work for the series. On July 24, 2019, it was announced that Ramos-Chapman was slated to direct a Showtime series called ''How to Make Love to a Black Woman (Who May Be Working Through Some Sh*t),'' executive produced by

Lena Waithe Lena Waithe (born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series ''The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–prese ...

and written by Casallina “Cathy” Kisakye. In February 2020, it was announced that Showtime would no longer move forward with the pilot. In 2021, Ramos-Chapman was named a

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

(USA) Fellow.

Personal life

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos-Chapman, Naima Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women writers American women film directors 21st-century American actresses African-American directors African-American actresses Puerto Rican film directors American actors of Puerto Rican descent Filmmakers from New York (state) People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Brooklyn College alumni American women film producers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers