JENN NKIRU
Jenn Nkiru is a visionary artist and director from Peckham, London. Represented globally by Iconoclast, Nkiru was named as a creative icon and one of the 200 women redefining the creative industries in 2018 by The Dots and one of the 100 global Creative Superheroes shaping culture by Utopia in 2018. An MFA film graduate of Howard University, her first film EN VOGUE shot by Oscar nominated cinematographer Bradford Young and critically acclaimed artist Arthur Jafa screened internationally to critical success. Last year, Jenn Nkiru directed Rebirth Is Necessary, a dreamlike art film centered on the magic and dynamism of blackness past, present and future.
Produced by Iconoclast and commissioned by NOWNESS, the film went on to win the Canal+ award at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival; Best Documentary at the London Independent Film Festival; and the Voice of a Woman award at Cannes and the Butterfly award at the Mostra Interna- tional Film Festival. Rebirth Is Necessary has been screened internationally, from The Museum of Modern Art (MOCA, LA), to the Tate Modern London, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London and Boston as well as the following esteemed global festivals: London Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Aesthetica Film Festival, San Francisco Festival and the 54th Chicago International Film Festival. It also introduced the first global public premiere of Black Panther at the British Film Institute in London.
Other recent collaborators include shooting 2nd unit for Beyonce & Jay-Z’s latest Inte rnet-breaking video, “APESHIT”, shot in Paris’s iconic Louvre, directed by Ricky Saiz, and most recently directing the music video for the comeback record, KONG for music icon Neneh Cherry, which is an official selection at the 41st Denver Film Festival.
As a founding curator of Boiler Room’s new video platform 4:3, alongside global film and music icons Elijah Wood, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Peaches, Jenn created a one-off special installation event surrounding themes of Afrofuturism, hosting a panel and screening with singer and actress Janelle Monae as well as screening works from John Akomfrah, Sunny Rollins, and Flying Lotus amongst others.
Nkiru is also in development for her first feature documentary film with BBC Arts set to be released in 2019 and has forthcoming projects with Gucci and Frieze as well as with musical artists Sampha and Solange Knowles.