Nora Awolowo

Oreoluwa Racheal Awolowo (born 2 March 1999), popularly known as Nora Awolowo, is a Nigerian film producer, director, and cinematographer. In 2025 she became the youngest Nigerian filmmaker to reach the ₦100 million box office milestone for Red Circle, a film for which she served as both producer and cinematographer. She is also the first Nigerian woman nominated for Best Cinematography at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) for her work in the Nigerian 2024 epic Lisabi: The Uprising.

Early life Awolowo was born, raised and schooled in Lagos State, Nigeria, where she still lives. She received her degree in Accounting from Ekiti State University in 2019. At university, she developed a passion for photography and learned to take images with her phone, earning some paid work while still a student. More interested in storytelling, she transitioned to filmmaking, beginning with documenting behind-the-scenes footage for unscripted television projects, such as Lota Chukwu’s Lota Takes. During this period, she also taught herself to edit television content, solidifying her interest in a filmmaking career. and established a pattern in her early work, which often explored the personal and societal challenges faced by Nigerians, particularly women. That same year she followed up with Symphonies, a short narrative film about a young woman whose life begins to unravels amid personal challenges. In 2021, she released David, a faith-based film about a young man on the verge of taking his life. The film went on to win two awards and screened at six international film festivals.

Awolowo's breakthrough came with Baby Blues: The Trials of Childbirth (2021), a documentary that highlighted the challenges of Nigerian women facing childbirth and post-partum depression. In 2023, Baby Blues was nominated for Best Documentary at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, alongside another of her films, Nigeria: The Debut—a documentary commissioned by International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), which went on to win the category.

In 2024, she served as cinematographer alongside Barnabas Emordi in the Netflix historical drama, Lisabi: The Uprising, with both receiving a nomination for Best Cinematographer at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).

In 2025, she served as both producer and cinematographer to the thriller Red Circle, her biggest commercial success to date. In less than a month following its June release, its crossed the ₦100 million mark at the box office, establishing Awolowo as the youngest Nigerian filmmaker to reach that benchmark.

Distinctions Awolowo is a three-time nominee—in 2020, 2021, and 2023— for The Future Awards Africa in the Prize for Film category.

In 2025 she received Zikoko’s HERtitude award for Film.

Nigeria: The Debut

Baby Blues The Future Awards Africa Prize for Film

Filmography Year Title Role 2019 Life at the Bay Director 2019 Symphonies Director 2021 David Cinematographer 2021 Baby Blues Director 2022 The Order of Things Cinematographer 2023 Dear Men Cinematographer 2024 What Are You Truly Afraid Of? Director 2024 Lisabi Cinematographer 2025 Red Circle Producer and Cinematographer