Chinonye Chukwu (/ˈtʃiːnoʊjə ˈtʃuːkuː/ CHEE-noh-yə CHOO-koo; born May 19, 1985) is a Nigerian-American film director best known for the drama film Clemency. She is the first African-American woman to win the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Of Igbo heritage, Chukwu was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. When she was just over a year old, her family moved to Oklahoma, and moved again to Fairbanks, Alaska when she was six. They visited Nigeria often.
Growing up in Alaska, Chukwu was often the only African-American in her classes, and she struggled to fit in. Throughout her childhood she dealt with depression, which was exacerbated by limited wintertime daylight in Alaska. To cope, she read Maya Angelou and joined the weight-lifting club. Chukwu always wanted to make movies. In her teen years, she carried around a journal that she would write down ideas for films and music videos. She often wrote stories about Nigerian-American girls reconnecting with loves or lost siblings.

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