Julius Onah


Julius Onah is a Nigerian-American filmmaker. He has directed the films The Girl Is in Trouble, The Cloverfield Paradox, Luce, and Captain America: Brave New World.

Early life

Onah was born in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. His father, Adoga Onah, was a Nigerian diplomat. He was raised in the Philippines, Nigeria, Togo, and the United Kingdom before moving to Arlington County, Virginia. Onah graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington and received his B.A. in theater from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He completed an M.F.A. from the graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he was selected as a Dean's Fellow. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship.

Career

Onah's work has been screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Camerimage. In the summer of 2010, he was selected as one of Filmmaker magazine's New Faces of Independent Film. In 2013, he was selected as one of Studio System's 10 Up and Up Feature Directors and Forbes magazine's 13 African Celebrities To Watch. While at NYU's graduate film program he completed his first feature as his thesis, The Girl Is in Trouble with executive producer Spike Lee, featuring Alicja Bachleda, Wilmer Valderrama, Columbus Short, and Jesse Spencer. Onah was previously set to direct the thriller film adaptation Brilliance for Legendary Pictures which David Koepp scripted with Will Smith and Noomi Rapace to star as leads. He then directed The Cloverfield Paradox with producer J. J. Abrams. His film, Luce, featuring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Kelvin Harrison Jr., premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. He and J.C. Lee wrote the screenplay of the thriller film Bad Genius, a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name. He then directed Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth Captain America film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Anthony Mackie starring in the title role.

Filmography

Film

YearFilmDirectorWriterProducer
2015The Girl Is in Trouble
2018The Cloverfield Paradox
2019Luce
2024Bad Genius
2025Captain America: Brave New World
TBASamo Lives

Open Continents

Open Continents is a global media project comprising Onah's short, feature, music video and television work.
ContinentTitleCountrySubjectYear
EUROPESZMOLINSKY GermanyEuro Tales2008
EUROPENIE PATRZ WSTECZ PolandEuro Tales2008
EUROPEDRIK NU AGNESDenmarkEuro Tales2011
AFRICAGOODBYE CHICKEN, FAREWELL GOAT NigeriaAfrican Days2010
AFRICABIG MAN NigeriaAfrican Days2012
NORTH AMERICASHE WAITS IN THE RESTLESS HORIZONUSANew York Streets2005
NORTH AMERICALINUS USANew York Streets2007
NORTH AMERICATHE GIRL IS IN TROUBLEUSANew York Streets2015
NORTH AMERICAMEDITATIONS/A LOVE STORYUSAAmerican Lives2004
NORTH AMERICATHE BOUNDARY USAAmerican Lives2008
NORTH AMERICA"BROKEN ARROWS" USAAmerican Lives2015
NORTH AMERICALUCEUSAAmerican Lives2019
NORTH AMERICATHE CLOVERFIELD PARADOXUSAHollywood Lights2018