Ella Ezeike – Inspiring change and unity through Film

A filmmaker who uses poetry to highlight the intricacies of personal relationships and triumph, Nigerian-American creative Ella Ezeike is regarded by insiders as a pioneer in a digital world.

“If I wasn’t so delusional, and so sure of my vision, I would have given up a long time ago,” she reflects during the latest edition of the Djembe Series.

Raised in Los Angeles, Ezeike moved to London in 2016 to study fashion and media at the London College of Fashion, where she worked on fashion campaign films for brands. In an interview, she recalls early successes like producing her first short on a shoestring budget of 800 GBP and three rolls of film donated by Kodak.

A rising player, she is among the Dazed 100, Generation 3.0 list of inspiring individuals shaping the cultural landscape with film credits like Bluebird (2021) garnering high acclaim. Her second short, Words We Don’t Say (2022), examines Black masculinity and the father-daughter relationship. Both echo her personal credo that unity and community conquer all. “It’s about looking around, looking across, not above,” she reveals.

As a young filmmaker capturing the ongoing era through a Black female lens, her chosen vocation, she admits, is not an easy one. “I don’t think people are honest enough about how being a director, let alone being a creative is. The road is never really clear. No day is never ever the same.”