Alumna Olive Nwosu '21 Participated in Sundance Screenwriting Lab

Alumna Olive Nwosu '21 was selected to participate in this year’s prestigious Sundance Screenwriting Lab. One of only 16 fellows chosen out of over 3200 applicants, Nwosu developed her script, Burial, in the online edition of the lab which took place from January 15 to January 18, 2022. 

In Burial, an older Nigerian politician, faced with the sudden death of a visiting British dignitary, becomes obsessed with giving the foreign stranger a proper burial. He embarks on a relentless quest across Nigeria that forces him to confront the choices he’s made in his own life.

“It means a lot to be part of the Sundance family as I work on this story,” Nwosu said. “I can't wait to share the film with the world.” In addition to her participation in the Screenwriting Lab, Nwosu is set to screen her short, Egúngún (Masquerade), at the festival. The film was also recently nominated for Best British Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival 2021. 

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olive Nwosu is a BAFTA-Pigott Scholar, Alex Sichel Fellow at Columbia University, and an ‘African Promises’ director selected by the Institut Français. Nwosu’s work is informed by the intersectional nature of her life across multiple continents and identities. Her mission is to tell urgent, cinematic, African stories. 

For 40 years, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) Labs have supported and championed an exciting and ground-breaking array of independent filmmakers including Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen [Noche de Fuego]), Lyle Corbine Jr. (Wild Indian), Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Chloe Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me), Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats), Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), Fernando Frias de la Parra (I’m No Longer Here), Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Edson Oda (Nine Days), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Dee Rees (Pariah), Nia DaCosta (Little Woods), Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) and Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild), among many others.