Spotlight: Jade Osiberu — Nigeria's Fast Rising Filmmaker

The 2023 Africa Magis Viewers’ Choice Award has come and gone. However, a few names have continued to dominate discussions especially about some of the movies that carted away most of the awards. One of such names is Jade Osiberu, whose movie, the Brotherhood, had some impressive outing on the night.

So, who is Jade Osiberu?

Though not new to the movie industry, the name Jade Osiberu may not have rung any bell to a section of Nollywood fans before now. Born on August 18, 1985, in Lagos, into a royal family of Oba Adewale Osiberu, the Elepe of Epe Sagamu, Jade Osiberu studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Manchester and Media and Communications at Pan-Atlantic University. She started her career as a software engineer, but soon discovered her passion for filmmaking.

Osiberu rose to fame after creating Ndani TV, a digital platform for original content sponsored by GTBank.

She also produced and directed several popular shows for Ndani TV, such as Gidi Up and The Juice. In 2017, she founded her own production company, Greoh Studios, with the aim of telling African stories to a global audience.

(Photo. InstagramJadeosiberu) Osiberu during an interview at the BBC

Osiberu made her directorial debut with Isoken, a romantic comedy that explores the pressures of marriage and culture on a single woman in Nigeria. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning her several awards and nominations, including Best Director at the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards and Best Film at the Nollywood Film Festival in Scotland. She followed up with Sugar Rush, a comedy thriller about three sisters who find a stash of money and get involved in a criminal conspiracy. The film was also a box office hit, becoming one of the highest-grossing Nigerian films of all time.

Her latest flick Gangs of Lagos, an action-drama inspired by real events in Lagos currently streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video became an instant hit. Osiberu is widely regarded as one of the most talented and visionary filmmakers in Africa. Her unique storytelling style endears her to many movie lovers in Nigeria and across the world.