top of page

◼ Jul 16, 2021-Jan 9, 2022

+more

Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A.

Thu. Feb 09, 6PM

Screening: The Same Difference / Q&A w/ Nneka Onuorah

Registration required

ONsite at moCa

Join us for a screening of the documentary, The Same Difference, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, Nneka Onuorah.

Nneka Onuorah is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker, producer, and activist of Nigerian-American descent whose projects focus on championing social justice, spreading empathy through understanding, and illuminating the stories of the otherwise voiceless. Her work traverses documentary features, series, commercial and campaigns, live events, and scripted features and series. She is best known for her debut feature, “The Same Difference,” a documentary about internalized homophobia within the US black lesbian community. The film was nominated for a GLAAD award in the category of “Best Documentary” and led to collaborations with Viceland (“My House,” a documentary-series about the black queer ballroom scene), Netflix (“First and Last,” about inmates' intake and release from the prison system), Higher Ground (“The G Word”), and Lionsgate (“Black Equals Beauty,” a non-fiction series overturning stereotypes of Black sexualization through the media.


Nneka’s latest feature doc, “Legends of the Underground” was released by HBO in June 2021 following its global premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows the lives and struggles of several non-conformist youth in Nigeria, to be seen and live life out-loud, un-harassed on their own terms. Nneka co-directed with Giselle Bailey.

This documentary, which influenced the work in Nina Chanel Abney’s series, Big Butch Synergy, explores internalized heteronormativity within African American lesbian and bisexual communities. Onuorah takes an in-depth look at the hypocrisy and performative expectations of gender roles in these communities, showing how these behaviors align with homophobia and masculine privilege in the straight world.


The Same Difference influenced the work in Nina Chanel Abney's series, Big Butch Synergy, using collage and painting to show how expectations of gender roles manifest on college campuses.

About the filmmaker

Nneka Onuorah

The Same Difference film poster
Image of Nneka Onuorah
Sign up

Sam Falls

Photo: Erin Falls

Sign Up

Presented in partnership with

◼ Jul 16, 2021-Jan 9, 2022

+more

Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A.

◼ Related exhibition

bottom of page