Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor

Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor is an award-winning filmmaker and founder
of Joi Productions. She produced the box-office hit Blue Story (2019)
and Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day (2021), the UK’s first all-Black
Christmas film, and was named a Screen International Star of
Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough in 2020. Joi Productions also
received a BFI Vision Award and later partnered with Ringside
Studio. More recently Joy has produced Ashley Walters’ debut
feature film Animol for BFI, F4 and Sky Studios. She’s also
producing Billy Lumby’s debut, Florid for BBC Film, along with
having projects in development at BFI, BBC Film, F4, Searchlight
and MiraMax to name a few.
As a director, Joy’s short For Love (2021), supported by BBC Film,
premiered at the BFI London Film Festival where it was nominated
for Best Short, before screening at SXSW, Aspen, Outfest and
BlackStar, winning multiple awards.
Her debut feature Dreamers (2025) premiered in the Panorama
section at the 75th Berlinale, where it was nominated for the Teddy
Award, and went on to compete at BFI London Film Festival for the
First Features Sutherland Award. The film has since screened
internationally at Frameline in San Francisco and GAZE in Dublin,
where it won Joint Best Feature Film.
With Dreamers, Joy has established herself as a bold new voice in
British cinema, crafting intimate, lyrical stories that centre
underrepresented voices while reaching audiences worldwide.