Niyi Towolawi is a British

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and writer/director of TWisTED and ''

Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...

''.edostatenews.com
/ref> He is a filmmaker introducing the

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

audience to international

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

, with his film production .

Early life

Towolawi is of

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

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 ...

descent, and grew up in

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. He is a Mathematics graduate from

the University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, where he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and studied

Shaolin Kung Fu Shaolin Kung Fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Ch'an philosophy and martial arts and originated and was developed i ...

. He id known for being a keen

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician and plays numerous musical instruments.

Career

Before films

He began producing music in high school and had a number of white labels releases at the height of the

UK Garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

scene, and worked with notable artistes including a pre-stardom

D'Banj Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (born 9 June 1980), better known by his stage name D'banj, is a Nigerian singer and rapper and the founder of Mo' Hits Records with producer Don Jazzy. He has won several music awards, including the awards for ''Best Af ...

, published under HekCentrik Music. He worked as a software developer, headhunted by some of the world's leading organisations, after graduating from university, where he continued producing music and shooting numerous music videos, in a cinematic style that evolved into making

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Technology

He has been at the forefront of the digital cinematography revolution since 2005 shooting then with 35mm adapters on camcorders, a D-I-Y approach that pre-dates the digital cinema cameras and video

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...

generation of today. His film, "TWisTED" was one of the first to project digitally when it premiered at

Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...

Surrey Quays Surrey Quays is a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks. Previously known as Surrey Docks, the area was renamed following the construction of the Surrey Quays shopping ce ...

in 2007, with support from the

UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...

Themes

His films center around people of African origin in the

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

. His plotlines explore elements of multi-dimensional relationships along ethnic, gender, or taboo issues, and often feature characters of subjective motives. He lists

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

as his all-time favourite director.

Filmography

* '' Turning Point (2012)'' * TWisTED (2007) *''

The Miracle Centre ''The Miracle Centre'' is a 2020 Nigerian comedy film directed by Niyi Towolawi and co-produced by director himself with Odetoye Bode for Kherut Films. The film stars Yemi Shodimu with Hafeez "Saka" Oyetoro, Ayo Mogaji, Femi Adebayo, and Ayobam ...

'' (2020)

References

External links

*
Company page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towolawi, Niyi Living people Film directors from London English people of Yoruba descent Alumni of the University of Manchester Yoruba filmmakers People from Canning Town Year of birth missing (living people)