Aisha Bolaji – Screen Writer, Director, Curator
Aisha Bolaji is a Nigerian-Irish screenwriter, director, and curator based in Dublin with a creative ability to blend folklore, speculative fiction, and deeply human narratives. With a fun and fantastical flare, Aisha is quickly establishing themselves as one of the most exciting new voices in Irish cinema.
Their first short film after college ‘Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky’ was shortlisted for Virgin Media Discovers in 2022 and, in 2023, received the Creative Ireland South Dublin Film Award. It screened at festivals including the Galway Film Fleadh (where it was nominated for the Bingham Ray New Talent Award), Aesthetica, Cork International Film Festival, and Kerry International Film Festival, winning Best First Time Director at Catalyst International Film Festival and nominated for Best Irish Short Film at the Kinsale Sharks. Aisha’s next short film Starlets is a Screen Ireland Focus Short. They were also selected for TG4’s Céim Eile development scheme alongside co-writer Cian Griffin for a 30-minute Irish-language film for broadcast with their screenplay Tír na nÓg.
Aisha’s feature screenplay ‘Welcome to the Plague Pit’, a speculative drama exploring class, belonging, and societal power, was selected for both Storyhouse Labs and Stowe Story Labs. Their feature film project ‘Ololufé’ (an adaptation of the Dublin Fringe Festival play by Tishé Fatunbi and Praise Titus) was one of only 31 projects chosen out of over 400 for Screen Ireland’s Perspectives scheme. Aisha was also selected to shadow direct on Element Pictures’ TV series The Dry with director Paddy Breathnach.
Alongside filmmaking, Aisha has over seven years of experience as a film curator. They are a shorts programmer for the Dublin International Film Festival and have curated for IFI DocFest, Catalyst International Film Festival, PhizzFest, and more. They are also a member of the Irish Film Programmers Network. As co-founder and creative director of The GALPAL Collective, Aisha supports innovative, community-driven work by emerging artists across film and visual media, collaborating with Screen Ireland, National Talent Academies, Wildcard, DIFF, DIAGEO, Local Enterprise Offices, IFI, GORM, and others.
Passionate about access and education, Aisha has facilitated film workshops for schools in lower socio-economic areas in Dublin. They’ve worked with Fresh Film Festival, DIFF Pioneers, Trinity Access Programme, served as a mentor for Creative Futures Academy, and facilitated with Tallaght Young Filmmakers, Foróige and GORM’s Wideshot Programme.
