C.J. Obasi is a Nigerian filmmaker whose work moves between genre cinema, African futurism, and myth-inflected storytelling. Raised in Owerri, southeastern Nigeria, he transitioned from a background in Computer Science to filmmaking, debuting with Ojuju (2014), a zero-budget feature that premiered at AFRIFF, won Best Nigerian Film, and went on to achieve cult status after screening at more than 40 international festivals.

His films have been showcased at major festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Locarno, Venice, and FESPACO. His short film Hello, Rain, based on a story by Nnedi Okorafor, premiered at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen and was featured by CNN and the BBC for its contribution to African futurism. 

Obasi is a co-founder of the Surreal16 collective, with whom he co-directed Juju Stories (2021), which premiered in competition at Locarno, won the Boccalino d’Oro for Best Film, and received wide international distribution. In 2021, they founded the S16 Film Festival, a plataform that celebrates cinema as an art form and promotes new African and world cinematic voices.

Obasi’s latest feature, Mami Wata (2023), a black-and-white fantasy shot in Benin, premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, where it won the Special Jury Award for Cinematography. The film was Nigeria’s official submission to the Academy Awards, received multiple international nominations, and was acquired by MUBI for distribution. He is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a Bellagio Residency alumnus of the Rockefeller Foundation.