I am an award-winning feminist filmmaker and I work mainly with women and the organisations that support them.
I help you tell your story your way.
Current and Past Projects
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival (2024)
I’m careful not to objectify or sexualise women when I film them and this carnival - my first in five years - I was faced with a challenge. I had to film women as sexual beings with human agency without objectifying them. In many of the bands the new normal in carnival costumes for women are what I can only describe as women “wrapped in string”. Women masqueraders' feeling of joy and what so many described as freedom made me film them the way they wanted to be seen, as beautiful, feminine and standing in their own power.
This little film also captures sailor and Indian masqueraders in a response to the lament that traditional carnival characters are dying.
Siwa Oasis
I travelled to the remote and once famous Siwa Oasis in Egypt to film the behind the scenes of a feature film. I was captivated by this remote island oasis and the Amazigh (North African indigenous, formerly known as Berbers) living there in and around the 13th Century ruins of the citadel. I ended up living there for ten months, long after the film crew had left. The community warmly welcomed me and I made videos telling their personal stories and promoting their businesses.
My experience in Siwa and the surrounding desert allowed me to look within, and so without, as I explored themes of identity and belonging. These musings form the basis of a collection of memoirs - my own and others' living in Siwa with accompanying photographs. The book is in production.
Our Menopause (2023)
A bold and heart-warming look at the untold story of Black women's menopause experience in the UK.
A group of Black women spend a weekend being pampered. They openly share their stories with each other and in front of the camera - from breakfast to the wee hours of the morning and from the hot tub to the spa.
Our Menopause - Trailer - 2023
Photo: Jade Rodriguez, PA
"I love this photo, because it captures a joyful moment and I have such lovely memories of that day as we were given the space to share our menopause stories with other phenomenal Black women. At no point did I feel observed, I knew you were filming but you were there with us, in those moments and I didn't feel I was ever performing or compelled to perform. I felt like myself."
Dr. Angelina Osborne
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Whilst Nicola was the director of the film, the whole experience felt more like a co-production. I always felt safe during the filming and sure that she would aim to represent me in the best ways possible. Her sense of care was evident through the process from start to finish, most notably agreeing to remove a clip of me that I, in hindsight, felt uncomfortable about. She was an obvious champion of women, empathetic to our needs, evidently dedicated to making our voices heard."
Dr. Juanita Cox
Our Grief (2022)
Spotlights the experiences of black, middle-aged women who have experienced grief and loss in the UK.
"Working with Nicola as a filmmaker adds an often-overlooked dimension to the process of activism. The dynamic between us is such that it invokes a sense of protected vulnerability. It opens up a doorway to connectedness and therefore empowers everyone who engages in the process to believe that they have a voice and that they are able to use that voice, it will be heard and they will be safe, protected and comforted. Which is all part of the journey to healing."
Dr. Yansie Rolston - Film Commissioner
Our Grief - Trailer - 2022
Photo: Laura Ferreira
Love the Dark Days (2022)​
The author Ira Mathur contacted me and asked me to make a short film using photographs and graphic images from her book, Love the Dark Days. After asking the author questions that she said she’d never considered, long conversations ensued. Being a writer, Mathur then artfully created text which became the basis of the film script. This dynamic collaboration allowed me to experiment in new ways.
"Working with Nicola was a dream as it would be for any writer. She excavates stories and images like a master and creates subtle nuanced and powerful emotion through her film making process which is a blend of intricate technical knowledge of filmmaking combined with an exquisite emotional sensibility".
Ira Mathur 2022
Becky (2020)​
Becky is an unexpectedly uplifting story about a Kenyan woman’s resilience on her journey to feeling complete.
While I was in Nairobi, Kenya I made films with and for Amref Health Africa on obstetric fistula and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Then I met Becky. We were both staying in the same Airbnb and one day when I put the phone down after another heated telephone conversation about FGM that Becky overheard she said, “I have something to tell you ...” and the rest is history. Although, Becky was ready to tell her story of circumcision she was also scared. Working at Becky's pace I shot the film. We had long conversations with the toing and froing of edited versions of the film before ensuring it was just right. Through the process Becky and I became friends.
Visibly me (2017)
Visibly Me tells the story of a 47-year-old woman with no partner and no children who finds herself invisible and feels she has no choice but to find the antidote.
Visibly me was my thesis film for my Documentary by Practice MA at Royal Holloway, University of London. It was the first film I conceptualised, filmed and edited myself. Working on this film gave me the opportunity to feel what it might feel like for anyone telling their story. In some ways this was the pre-cursor to helping others tell their stories although of course each Storyteller’s experience is unique. I learn something new every time.
"Working with Nicola as a filmmaker adds an often overlooked dimension to the process of activism".
Dr. Yansie Rolston, Efficacy EVA