I am Julián MartÃnez.
Princess Usanga is a Miami-based director and writer with Haitian and Nigerian roots, born in Queens, New York. Her storytelling delves into the nuances of the human experience through the lens of self-discovery, compassion, and situational irony. As an African and Caribbean Black woman, Usanga is intentional about sharing perspectives from intersectional identities. Usanga studied Television and Film Production at St. John’s University and went on to direct her first short film, God’s Atheist.
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She was later commissioned by Oolite Arts to create her coming-of-age ’ 90s short film, Hooky, which she wrote and directed. The film premiered at Africa Film Society’s Classics in the Park Film Festival in Accra, Ghana. Hooky will air on PBS as part of their Film-maker series (Season 7), which highlights short films from South Florida filmmakers. The film was nominated for Best Short Film at the Key West Film Festival and screened at the Norton Museum of Art. Additionally, Hooky received recognition from ARRI Camera by being featured on their website and social media pages.
Usanga recently penned the action film The Poacher Assassin and is currently in pre-production for Missed Connections, a proof-of-concept short for her feature film debut. The Missed Connections feature script is
a quarterfinalist for The Writers Lab, an initiative founded by Meryl Streep that champions women screenwriters.
