Nora Awolowo gets bored easily, so while studying accounting at Ekiti State University, she decided that the suffocating grip of 9-5 life was not going to suit her. Since she enjoyed documenting things, she developed an interest in photography.
Boredom and the boundless possibilities that art offers led her from photography to cinematography. She has since shot life-changing documentaries, launched Rixel Studios, worked on commissioned projects for FIFA, Canon, Guinness, shot movies seen worldwide, won the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice awards, and co-produced Red Circle, a thriller currently on course to smash box office records in Nigeria.
Then she turned twenty-six in March 2025.
In a country and an industry often defined by its grit and hustle, Oreoluwa Racheal Awolowo has emerged as a rare blend of a visionary artist with the strategic mind of a seasoned entrepreneur. Her latest offering, Red Circle, is more than just a film; it’s a statement of intent. And if you’ve been following the buzz, you know it’s a statement that’s resonating loud and clear.
When I caught up with Nora Awolowo, fresh off the wave of Red Circle’s overwhelmingly positive reviews after its UK premiere, her candour was disarming. “I think I was anxious about it, to be honest,” she admitted, a surprising revelation from someone who has had more hits than misses since she burst onto the scene. But then, she hit me with the truth: “Film or any art, any expression of art makes you vulnerable as a person.”
Red Circle is not like the previous projects on her already impressive portfolio. This is Rixel Studios’ first feature film, and the stakes are global. The film is screening in Ghana, hitting the UK, and the rest of the world after an impressive start in Nigeria. This is not a commissioned gig where she’s just the Director of Photography. It’s a different beast when your name, your vision, and your company’s future are on the line.
“As producer, you’re invested from the beginning to the end,” she explains, “You are the one who knows the risks that have been taken.” The physical reactions, reading positive reviews online and seeing audiences connect, “sometimes people just come to me and say, ‘Are you the producer? I loved it’ – that, she says, is “fulfilling.”
Nora Awolowo’s journey to becoming the celebrated cinematographer and producer she is today is anything but conventional. “I wanted something out of the normal core office setting,” she recalls. “I just felt like documenting things, seeing pictures, translating what is in my head to pictures,” she muses.
It was about creative freedom, about being in control of her own time, her narrative. She craved the kind of creative signature you see in a TY Bello photograph – instantly recognisable without a watermark and deeply personal. “If I had become an accountant, you cannot say Nora Awolowo invented her own formulas. But now, I can tell my own stories with film,” she says.
Her curiosity, a trait she admits can lead to boredom, then led her down the rabbit hole of animation, After Effects, and finally, cinematography. In a field heavily dominated by men, it took time to find other women in the field, but Toyin Odukoya, Teecamvisuals, provided some inspiration as the rare female cinematographer.
But talent alone, as Nora quickly learned, doesn’t build empires. In 2019, a pivotal conversation with a client-turned-friend changed everything. “I remember that time when (Femi) Otedola bought Ferraris for his children. And I thought, you’re not going to buy this jumping from one person’s set to another. So I told this friend of mine that I was ready to do big stuff. I knew people I could call to execute any project, and felt ready. She told me, “Nobody’s going to take you seriously if you are not a company; people feel safer dealing with registered companies than with individuals”.
This was the genesis of Rixel Studios. Nora understood that to play in the big leagues, to attract serious investment and build a sustainable legacy, she needed a proper business entity. This insight is crucial in an industry where, as many will tell you, “filmmaking does not make you rich” without strategic planning. It was a stark reminder that while creativity is king, structure is its queen. “It is nice to be a creative, but the business side of it, don’t forget it,” she says.
And build she did. In just six years, Rixel Studios has amassed an impressive portfolio, including a commissioned documentary for FIFA, which snagged an Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Documentary in 2023; projects for Sony, Canon, Guinness, and a host of short films
But even with such success, Nora felt a pull towards something more enduring, and since film is forever, Red Circle was born. Unlike commercials or short-term documentaries that fade from public memory, Nora told me that feature films offer a tangible legacy. “You can hold on to a name behind this art that you really like,” she explains, referencing timeless Nollywood classics like Tunde Kelani’s “Saworoide” and “Maami.” This desire for lasting impact, for her name to be etched alongside the art she creates, propelled her into the challenging world of feature filmmaking.
Her approach to Red Circle was deeply influenced by her diverse experiences from photography, shooting behind-the-scenes content for brands, working on short movies and documentaries. Having worked on sets like Baby Farm and Lisabi: The Uprising, she absorbed lessons from industry giants like Niyi Akinmolayan. She saw what a “sane set” looked like – a collaborative environment where every voice matters, regardless of hierarchy. “I did not want people to see me coming on set and they are running away saying, ‘Oh, the Executive Producer is coming’,” she says, emphasising her commitment to fostering a supportive atmosphere.
This collaborative spirit, she believes, is what carried the cast and crew through the inevitable tough days while shooting Red Circle, turning exhaustion into collective determination. “I remember some frustrating days when I was almost in tears but such was the energy that we had on set that it was the other crew members, who on some other productions, would be the first to grumble were the ones saying, Nora, we can do this thing. We need to finish it, and to be honest, that was all I needed. The days that you’re down, you have people around you who can lift you up, and make you feel like, yes, we are in this together.”
Already, Nora Awolowo has become an advocate for women in film, but she is quick to acknowledge the women who paved the way in Nollywood and continue to inspire her: Kemi Adetiba, Jade Osiberu, Mo Abudu, Funke Akindele, Toyin Abraham. “All the women are just doing great,” she beams. “Shout out to all of them, for real! They’ve gone ahead to change the narrative in such a way that you can say; ‘now we have a lot of women in this space now charting the territory of what Nollywood now looks like.”
Yet, the path is fraught with challenges. “Shooting in Nigeria, Lagos especially, is crazy,” she sighs, detailing logistical nightmares such as noise pollution, area boys demanding money, and the sheer difficulty of controlling an exterior environment. “Lagos is loud, it’s not an enabling environment for anybody to shoot,” she explains.
She dreams of more film villages, soundstages, and government-backed incentives – the kind of infrastructure that would allow Nigerian filmmakers to truly unleash their potential without battling daily chaos and financial challenges.
Despite these hurdles, Nora remains fiercely proud of what Nollywood achieves with limited resources. “Although, for the kind of resources that we have… we are doing fine .Imagine what we’d do with more,” she says, joking about a ‘low budget Hollywood film that costs $1 million,’ when Nigerian filmmakers pull off miracles with a fraction of that.
Nora Awolowo embodies the spirit of a new Nollywood – one that is creatively audacious, strategically sound, and relentlessly pushing boundaries. She’s not just making films; she’s building a legacy, one meticulously crafted frame and one shrewd business decision at a time.
And as she looks forward to the next decade, one thing is clear: Nora Awolowo is just getting started.
The post Nora Awolowo: The 26-year-old unstoppable force redefining film-making in Nollywood appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
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