Ayoka ("Ayo") Chenzira (born 1953) is an independent African-American
producer, director, animator, writer, and experimental film and
transmedia storyteller. She is the first African American woman
animator and one of a handful of black experimental filmmakers working
since the late 1970s. She has earned international acclaim for her
experimental, documentary, animation, and cross-genre productions. Her
work, as well as her efforts as one of the first African American
woman film educator, have led some in the press to describe her as a
media activist for social justice and challenging representations of
African American stereotypes in the mainstream media.Chenzira is most
well known for her 35mm feature films Hair Piece: A Film for
Nappyheaded People (1984) and Alma’s Rainbow (1993). Many of her
recent works as a transmedia storyteller play with the increasingly
digital world through art that combines material objects with digital
environments, including Chenzira and her daughter HaJ's collaboration
HERadventure (2013).Born in Philadelphia to Paul and Bernice Wilson,
Ayoka Chenzira was raised by her mother in North Philadelphia, living
in the same building where her mother owned a beauty salon. She grew
up playing the cello, field hockey and studying ballet. Chenzira was
exposed to art from a young age, including dance lessons and theater
visits as a child. Her mother made clothing for Ayoka, and strongly
encouraged her to pursue her artistic ambitions. She has been working
with moving images since she was 17. Chenzira married choreographer
Thomas Osha Pinnock, whom she collaborates with often in her
production and distribution company Red Carnelian. They have a
daughter together, Haj.Chenzira attended private boarding school
during high school. After graduating, she studied film and photography
at The College of New Rochelle in Westchester, New York. She
accomplished her M.A. degree in education at Columbia University. She
received her B.F.A. degree in film production from New York
University, where her thesis piece was Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum
(1979), "a short film that documented the African American concert
dancer, Syvilla Fort, who was her dance teacher". She is the first
African American to have earned her PhD in Digital Media Arts at the
Georgia Institute of Technology.
producer, director, animator, writer, and experimental film and
transmedia storyteller. She is the first African American woman
animator and one of a handful of black experimental filmmakers working
since the late 1970s. She has earned international acclaim for her
experimental, documentary, animation, and cross-genre productions. Her
work, as well as her efforts as one of the first African American
woman film educator, have led some in the press to describe her as a
media activist for social justice and challenging representations of
African American stereotypes in the mainstream media.Chenzira is most
well known for her 35mm feature films Hair Piece: A Film for
Nappyheaded People (1984) and Alma’s Rainbow (1993). Many of her
recent works as a transmedia storyteller play with the increasingly
digital world through art that combines material objects with digital
environments, including Chenzira and her daughter HaJ's collaboration
HERadventure (2013).Born in Philadelphia to Paul and Bernice Wilson,
Ayoka Chenzira was raised by her mother in North Philadelphia, living
in the same building where her mother owned a beauty salon. She grew
up playing the cello, field hockey and studying ballet. Chenzira was
exposed to art from a young age, including dance lessons and theater
visits as a child. Her mother made clothing for Ayoka, and strongly
encouraged her to pursue her artistic ambitions. She has been working
with moving images since she was 17. Chenzira married choreographer
Thomas Osha Pinnock, whom she collaborates with often in her
production and distribution company Red Carnelian. They have a
daughter together, Haj.Chenzira attended private boarding school
during high school. After graduating, she studied film and photography
at The College of New Rochelle in Westchester, New York. She
accomplished her M.A. degree in education at Columbia University. She
received her B.F.A. degree in film production from New York
University, where her thesis piece was Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum
(1979), "a short film that documented the African American concert
dancer, Syvilla Fort, who was her dance teacher". She is the first
African American to have earned her PhD in Digital Media Arts at the
Georgia Institute of Technology.
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