About me

Cherish Oteka is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who aims to challenge false narratives and provide a platform for often-marginalised communities to tell their stories on their terms. Cherish has worked with a range of well-known brands and broadcasters including BBC One, VICE, London Live, SBTV, Tate and Stonewall. Also selected on well-respected talent schemes including Edinburgh Television Festival's One's to Watch, Sheffield Documentary Festival's Doc Next and The Grierson Trust's Doc Lab. In 2016, Cherish won UKTV's Rising Star Award. The following year they also won Best Documentary at the Movie Screen and Video Awards

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Projects

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  Too Gay for God? (BBC)Same-sex marriage has been a legal right in Great Britain since 2014, but it’s one the Church of England doesn’t recognise. Too Gay for God? explores the challenging position that Britain’s LGBTQ Christians are placed in through the story of Reverend Jide Macaulay, an openly gay Church of England minister. Reverend Jide wants to marry his boyfriend, but in doing so is forced to ask if he can reconcile the two sides of who he is, as both a deeply committed Christian and a proudly out gay man.
• 1

  Clowning AroundClowning Around is a short profile documentary exploring the life of three women who identify as clowns and have an unusual connection to clowning - each woman has overcome adversity and uses clowning as a form of healing.
• 3

  Unfiltered Me (BBC)Influencers Grace Victory, Katie Snooks and Harnaam Kaur get totally real and totally unfiltered in this series that exposes the truth behind the selfies.
• 3

  Why I Call Myself a Witch (BBC)Tobi was raised a Christian but soon found a need for an alternative practice. Tobi indentifies as a witch and wants to change people's minds about what that means and holds full moon rituals for people who want to learn more.
• 6

  A Man Called a DadA Man Called Dad is a short creative documentary exploring and celebrating fatherhood in the Black community. Often painted as absentee, these fathers relive their challenges and triumphs in maintaining positive relationships with their children.
• 7

  Overcoming Sexual Harassment in the Barbershop (BBC)The decision for a woman to shave her hair isn’t an easy one to make. As well as having to overcome societies’ stereotypes and ideals around femininity, masculinity and sexuality, many women also have to navigate being sexually harassed in barbershops.

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Projects credited in

• 9

  IBWFF Images of Black Women Film Festival 2014IBWFF 2014 Held at The H club Covent Garden, London. • • • Collaborating with 7 other talented young people accross London to create our very own film festival. Vital Regeneration working in conjunction with the Images of Black Women Film Festival and the Granville Youth Centre. In this project we curated a film festival for the first ever The AWOY "Audience With Our Youths screening, which will formed a new core part of the Images of Black Women Film Festival. Over the course of our sessions
• 1

  Owned Media 2016 at Rich Mix Shoreditch, LondonOWNED MEDIA is an evening curated by Raymond Sichilima & Maisie Lindford. Birthed as part of a continuous collaboration following a successful screening at the 2014 Images of Black Women Film Festival. ( with fellow curators Cherishe Oteka & Kemar Scott. ) This is an exclusive film exhibition & an opportunity to discover talented young artists taking ownership of their work and identities, by creating content for diversity in media through independently funding and distribution. The Artists wil

Skills

• Film
• TV
• Visual Arts
• Art Direction
• Editing
• Commercial
• Digital
• Video Director
• Photography
• Pitching