Nora Awolowo

• Name — Nora Awolowo • Birth Name — Oreoluwa Racheal Awolowo • Born — 2 March 1999 • Birthplace — Lagos, Nigeria • Education — Ekiti State University • Website — rixelstudios.com • Occupation — * Producer • Cinematographer • Director • Known for — "Red Circle" Life at the Bay, Symphonies, All Lives Matter, David, Baby Blues

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.

By the time she graduated from university in 2019, Awolowo had been working in the film industry for two years. That year, she established her production company, Rixel Studios, and released her debut documentary, Life at the Bay, which follows the lives of women living in Tarkwa Bay. The short was screened at the Africa International Film Festival 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.

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.

• 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