Ayoka Chenzira

Ayoka "Ayo" Chenzira (born November 8, 1953) is an independent African-American producer, film director, television director, animator, writer, experimental filmmaker, and transmedia storyteller. She is the first African American woman animator and one of a handful of Black experimental filmmakers working since the late 1970s. She has earned international acclaim for her experimental, documentary, animation, and cross-genre filmmaking productions. Her work, as well as her efforts as one of the first African American woman film educators, have led some in the press to describe her as a media activist for social justice and challenging stereotype representations of African Americans in the mainstream media.

Chenzira is most well known for her 35mm feature film Alma’s Rainbow (1993), the drama MOTV, animated films Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People (1984) and Zajota & the Boogie Spirit (1989). Many of her recent works as a transmedia storyteller play with the increasingly digital media world through art that combines material objects with digital environments, and interactive films including Chenzira and her daughter HaJ's collaboration on HERadventure (2013).

Early life Born in Philadelphia, Ayoka Chenzira was raised by her mother in North Philadelphia, living in the same building where her mother owned a beauty salon. She grew up playing the piano, cello, field hockey and studying ballet. Her mother made reimagined designer clothing for Ayoka, and strongly encouraged her to pursue her artistic ambitions. From 1981 to 1984, Chenzira was the programs director of the Black Filmmakers Foundation, where she helped promote and distribute black films. She was one of the first African-American women to produce a feature-length film, Alma's Rainbow (1993). In 1984, she was one of seven writer/directors selected for the Sundance Institute. and the touring exhibition, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965–1985.

Films Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People is a 1984 satirical short film incorporating mixed media and animation to describe the emotional connection of Black women and their hair. Chenzira said the film was inspired by the question, "Why is kinky hair seen as broken?" The pioneering short animated film tackles matters of space and personal rights for Black women and their bodies. The award-winning ten-minute, 16-mm color animation contrasts the hair experiences and culture of Black women against white beauty standards.

Chenzira produced and directed Alma's Rainbow in 1993, a "coming-of-age" comedy-drama about middle-class black women in Brooklyn. This was one of the first 35mm feature films produced, written and directed by an African-American woman. The film explores the tensions and pitfalls that arise in a journey of this nature—most paths are fraught with risk, while others should not be pursued under any circumstances. In 2018, Chenzira began directing episodic television.

Filmography Syvilla: They Dance to Her Drum (Short) (1979) Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People (Short) (1984) Secret Sounds Screaming (Short) (1985) Five Out of Five (Music Video) (1986) On Becoming a Woman (Animation) (1986) The Lure and the Lore (short) (1989) Zajota and the Boogie Spirit (Short) (1990) Pull Your Head to the Moon (TV Short) (1992) Alma's Rainbow (1993) Snowfire (Short) (1994) Sentry at the Gate: The Comedy of Jane Galvin-Lewis (1995) In the Rivers of Mercy Angst (Short) (1997) HERadventure (2014) MOTV (My Own TV)

Television credits In 2018, Chenzira received a call from Ava DuVernay inviting her to direct an episode in season 3 of Queen Sugar (Here Beside the River). For this episode Chenzira was nominated for an NAACP Award for Best Director. Since then, she has directed the season 4 finale of Queen Sugar, and episodes of Greenleaf, Trinkets, Delilah, Dynasty, A League of Their Own, Octavia Butler's Kindred, and Beacon 23.

Accolades

Black Women Animate and the Cartoon Network honored Ayoka Chenzira in 2020 with the Cultural Innovator Award.

In 2019, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences began to restore and preserve the films of Ayoka Chenzira.

Many of Chenzira's films today are in permanent collections including MOMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art and some have been translated into French and Japanese.

In 2018, Chenzira was nominated for an NAACP Award for her directing work on the television series, Queen Sugar.

Chenzira won the 1991 Sony Innovator Award, and has been honored for her contributions to Black cinema by the mayors of New York City and Detroit. First Place, John Hanks Award, 1991 First Place, Dance Screen, 1992 Best Overall, Best Drama, Community Choice Award, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 1993 Apple Computer Distinguished Educator Award (2003)