Uprising: Ella Ezeike’s Love Letter to Black Women

Ella Ezeike, Nigerian-American director at Partizan, always seeked out ways in which to step into different characters and used her voice any opportunity she got. A theatre kid through and through, she has fond memories of a curiosity-infused childhood full of restlessness and always wanting to be the centre of attention. Creativity certainly ran through Ella’s veins and it was evident for any spectator - her passions were singing and acting and if she wasn’t singing in a choir, she found herself performing in a play. “Me becoming a director makes sense,” she says, reflecting on her growing up. 

Born and raised in America, Ella moved to England at 19, which she believes gave her a new point of view that shaped her creative voice, taste and perspective. Being exposed to a diverse array of cultures coupled with her extroverted and curious nature, inevitably influenced her craft. Today, Ella is based between London and LA and calls both places home. 

When she moved to England, she studied for a bachelor’s degree in fashion marketing at University of the Arts London, where she quickly realised that she didn’t want to pursue the fashion industry professionally. However, university was where she started filming videos as a hobby, not yet knowing how that could become her career later on.

Later, following a lot of cold outreach and trying to be on set in as many ways as possible (assisting, shadowing, and making her own personal projects), Ella finally entered the industry. “Since then I’ve worn many hats. I’ve worked as a production manager, an editor, a photographer - everything fell under the same umbrella.” 

She continues, “I just made things I wanted to make and people resonated with it. That’s the best way to approach anything, I believe. Make art that you really enjoy and the rest will fall into place.”

The ‘falling into place’ process involved lots of trial and error for Ella, and throughout she never stopped researching and watching films - “I was figuring out what I like and why I like it.” Figuring out what she liked ultimately led to her actually making it, which was, to her, the most useful way to develop a skill. The most useful lesson from these years of practice, to Ella, was beginning to understand who she is as an artist. “I had to find out what my intention was. Intentionality is everything.”

Her intention led her to her first project in 2021, a short film called ‘Bluebird’, inspired by her relationships and the transformative power of sisterhood. A poetic short made for women by women, exploring their heartbreaks, how these emotional turmoils shape girlhood, and the necessity of love, all told through a powerful monologue. Dressed in shades of blue, ‘Bluebird’ was Ella’s love letter to those closest to her, and her way to show us that once the seed of heartbreak is split, your sisters are waiting there to help you heal. Ella told Girls on Film: “It was important for me to shoot ‘Bluebird’ on film because I wanted a sense of nostalgia and I wanted the audience to feel like they were in a dream, almost as if they’re present in the story.”

Following that was her second short, ‘Words We Don’t Say’, which arguably had the biggest impact on her career and is another heartstring-tugging story, this time about the complex relationships between a father and a daughter. In ‘Words We Don’t Say’, intergenerational communication and the misunderstandings between a child and a parent are examined under a poetic lens and resentment grows into empathy. A monumental for Ella project, “It really showed people and the industry my voice and that I had a point of view.”

So, with intention acquired and point of view sharpened, Ella’s voice grew stronger. “I often say my career is a love letter to Black women,” she notes. “There’s not many of us in this industry, and not many of us get loads of work that isn’t centred around something political. I’m on this journey to show that our work and our perspectives are so wide and varied, and we can also be top voices within our industry.”

To her, getting commercial work and getting to exercise her directorial muscle is one of the hurdles of the industry. “You need to follow some traditional trajectory,” says Ella, “so it can be discouraging to people wanting to enter that sphere. The path isn’t linear.”

Not only this, but the advertising industry is notorious for its lack of opportunities for women and particularly women of colour. “Our industry is dominated by white men,” she adds. “It’s hard to break through those barriers. It’s often so political too. How can someone show their capabilities if industry heads aren’t taking risks on new talent?”

A fair question to ask, to which Ella herself has the answer. For her, what will take the industry out of its ‘pale and stale’ slump is taking risks on new emerging talent and t building  up-and-coming artists when their voices get drowned out. “These young people are so much hungrier. They’re just waiting for the right opportunity to show what they can do.”

That’s exactly why Ella spends a lot of time working with Girls in Film, a platform championing female filmmakers in the industry, where one can find endless fresh talent and captivating stories. 

Outside of work, Ella devotes a tonne of time perfecting the ideal skincare routine, which she herself admits to be a “pretty neurotic regime” and also walking. Getting her steps in during the day allows her to enjoy another passion of hers - music. “It’s such a huge part of my life and practice,” she explains. “I love dissecting sounds and patterns within production, and music is a huge component to my film work. In another life I would’ve been a musician absolutely.”

Talking about the drive and motivation in her work, Ella leaves us with a beautiful sentiment: “What drives me are the women in my life, and the women who are on their own journey to making waves in their industries. I’m so inspired by the tenacity of women - their compassion, their intelligence and just how incredible they are.”