Julius Onah

Julius Onah
Born	(1983-02-10) February 10, 1983 (age 41) Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria
Education	Wesleyan University (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	2002–present
Website	opencontinents.com

Julius Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker.[1] He has directed the films The Girl Is in Trouble (2015), The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), Luce (2019), and the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World (2025).

Early life

Onah was born in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. His father, Adoga Onah, was a Nigerian diplomat. He was raised in the Philippines, Nigeria, Togo, and the United Kingdom before moving to Arlington County, Virginia. Onah graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington and received his B.A. in theater from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He completed an M.F.A. from the graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he was selected as a Dean's Fellow.[1] He is also a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship.[2]

Career

Onah's work has been screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Camerimage. In the summer of 2010, he was selected as one of Filmmaker magazine's New Faces of Independent Film. In 2013, he was selected as one of Studio System's 10 Up and Up Feature Directors and Forbes Magazine's 13 African Celebrities To Watch. While at NYU's graduate film program he completed his first feature as his thesis, The Girl Is in Trouble (2015) with executive producer Spike Lee, featuring Alicja Bachleda, Wilmer Valderrama, Columbus Short, and Jesse Spencer. Onah was previously set to direct the thriller film adaptation Brilliance for Legendary Pictures which David Koepp scripted with Will Smith and Noomi Rapace to star as leads.[3][4] He then directed The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)[5] with producer J. J. Abrams. His latest film, Luce featuring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Kelvin Harrison Jr., premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[6] He and J.C. Lee wrote the screenplay of the thriller film Bad Genius, a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name.[7] He then directed Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth Captain America film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Anthony Mackie starring in the title role.[8]

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer
2015	The Girl Is in Trouble	Yes	Yes	Yes
2018	The Cloverfield Paradox	Yes	No	No
2019	Luce	Yes	Yes	Yes
2024	Bad Genius	No	Yes	No
2025	Captain America: Brave New World	Yes	Yes	No

Open Continents

Open Continents is a global media project comprising Onah's short, feature, music video and television work.

Continent	Title	Country	Subject	Year
EUROPE	SZMOLINSKY (Berlin Film Festival, SXSW Click, Melbourne Film Festival)	Germany	Euro Tales	2008
	NIE PATRZ WSTECZ (London Film Festival, Camerimage Grand Jury Award)	Poland		2008
	DRIK NU AGNES	Denmark		2011
AFRICA	GOODBYE CHICKEN, FAREWELL GOAT (Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, True/False Film Festival)	Nigeria	African Days	2010
	BIG MAN (Dubai Film Festival, New York Times, Los Angeles Film Festival)			2012
NORTH AMERICA	SHE WAITS IN THE RESTLESS HORIZON	USA	New York Streets	2005
	LINUS (MTVu Film of the Week, 1st Place Calvin Klein Short Film Competition)			2007
	THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE			2015
	MEDITATIONS/A LOVE STORY		American Lives	2004
	THE BOUNDARY (Amnesty International Movies That Matter, Best Director NBC Short Cuts, HBO)			2008
	"BROKEN ARROWS" (Avicii)			2015
	LUCE			2019
	THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX		Hollywood Lights	2018

References

1. [1] Archived May 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
2. [2] Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
3. "Legendary Sets Julius Onah To Helm 'Brilliance'". Deadline Hollywood. February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
4. Anderton, Ethan (May 12, 2014). "'Prometheus' Star Noomi Rapace is Joining Will Smith for 'Brilliance'". firstshowing.net. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
5. "'God Particle' believes in newbie helmer". Variety. November 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
6. "Sundance 2019: Alfre Woodard, Alec Baldwin + Making Of 'Alien', Satanists & Roy Cohn Docus Among U.S., World Cinema, NEXT, Midnight & Kids Slates". Archived from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
7. Wiseman, Andreas (February 4, 2022). "Erik Feig & Patrick Wachsberger Gear Up On College Admissions Thriller 'Bad Genius', Julius Onah To Direct — EFM Hot Pic". Deadline Hollywood.
8. Kit, Borys (July 8, 2022). "Captain America 4 Finds Its Director in Filmmaker Julius Onah (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.

External links

• Julius Onah at IMDb
• Official website
• Open Continents