Award-winning Nigerian filmmaker, Funa Maduka has been named as one of the 16 jurors granting awards at this year’s Sundance film festival, which holds January 19, 2023.
The former head of International Original Films at Netflix, has joined Shozo Ichiyama and Annemarie Jacir who make the three jury members of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Sixteen jurors will grant the awards for feature and short films, which will be announced on Friday, January 27.
Maduka has achieved the feat of working with the world’s top global and emerging filmmakers, managed the launch of the film offering across 100+ countries, and was positioned at the frontline of the company’s global expansion, over six years.
She has also built a development slate across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa and pioneered Netflix’ move into international film production.
Netflix also earned its first film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards after her film acquisitions.
Previously she worked at Participant Media developing and managing campaigns for film and television projects.
Maduka, a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, is also known for writing, producing and directing the first Nigerian film to world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Apart from Maduka, a BA from Cornell University and a Masters from Harvard Business School, other jurors of the 2023 edition are:
Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin for U.S. Dramatic Competition; W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez for U.S. Documentary Competition; Karim Amer, Petra Costa, and Alexander Nanau for World Cinema Documentary Competition; Madeleine Olnek for the NEXT competition section; and Destin Daniel Cretton, Marie-Louise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman for the Short Film Program Competition.
This year’s festival will be held January 19–29 in person in Utah.
