Film Honoraria

Omonike Akinyemi

Princess Grace Award:
Film Honorarium, 1998

Additional Grants:
• 2016 Professional Development Grant
• 2015 Artist Academy Participant

Omonike Akinyemi is a film and theater director with a vision to make plays and feature films that provoke thought. A former dancer with the Ballet Hispanico of New York Junior Dance company, Omonike’s passion for performance also led her to choreograph as an undergraduate at Yale University.

Upon graduation from the MFA film production program at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, Omonike was awarded a Princess Grace Foundation honorarium to direct the 1-hour drama, “Nelly’s Bodega”.

“Nelly’s Bodega” , has won the 2004 “Best Drama” Award at the Women of Color Film Festival. It was also screened in The Forum at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and aired on PBS (WNET/Channel 13). The film has become a part of the Donnell Public Library permanent collection.

During a residency at the Cite des Arts in Paris, Omonike also directed actors as part of Amy Werba’s Bilingual Actor’s Workshop and became known as an “actor’s director”. Omonike is now developing her first feature film, “How to Stay Sane in Paris”.

Omonike’s documentary, Paris/Black/Woman was screened at the European Film Market during the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. She also recently produced the 1/2 hour talk show “Blacks in Europe and the United States: Getting to Know Ourselves”, soon to air on public television in the tri-state area.