Nneka Onuorah

Nneka Onuorah

Nneka Onuorah

Filmmaker

Nneka Productions

UNITED STATES

Biography

Nneka Onuorah is a trailblazing, Emmy Award-winning Nigerian-American filmmaker, producer, and activist committed to telling narratively- and formally-daring stories that re-examine and lift up underrepresented communities.

Most recently, Nneka directed Amazon’s #1 Documentary, MEGAN THEE STALLION: IN HER WORDS which chronicles the Grammy-winning rapper's meteoric rise in the music industry and beyond, produced in collaboration with Time Studios & Jay-Z's Roc Nation and is available on Amazon Prime. Nneka has been nominated for ‘Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)’ for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards.

In September 2022, Nneka won the Primetime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program' for Amazon’s LIZZO’S WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG GRRRLS. The series—which also won the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Competition Program’—follows superstar Lizzo on the hunt for confident, badass women to join her world tour. This marked Nneka's first nomination and win, and a historic moment for queer women of color directors at the Emmys.

Nneka’s recent directorial work has twice been nominated for ‘Outstanding Documentary’ at the GLAAD Media Awards: in 2017, for THE SAME DIFFERENCE, about internalized homophobia within the black lesbian community; and in 2022, for The Legend of the Underground, which premiered at Tribeca before debuting on HBO in June 2021, produced by John Legend and focused on Nigerian youth challenging their country’s discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws. Her other credits include Netflix’s prison-themed First and Last; Viceland’s black queer-focused My House; Burn Down The House, which premiered at NewFest; and The G Word, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

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