13 Things About Zuriel Oduwole, The Youngest Professional Filmmaker Who Has Interviewed Over 15 Presidents

Zuriel Elise Oduwole who is based in California, United States is an acclaimed documentary film maker, conference speaker and writer best known for her works on the advocacy for the education of girls in Africa.

Stargist.com presents you 10 things on the world’s youngest film maker.

Zuriel and her mum

See below:

1. Zuriel Oduwole was born in 2002 in the United States to a Nigerian father, Ademola Oduwole and a Mauritian mother, Patricia Oduwole.

2. Her name is of Hebrew origin, which means “God is my Rock”.

3. She began her mission in 2012 when she entered a school competition with a documentary film about Africa titled ‘The Ghana Revolution’ for which she had to interview two former presidents of Ghana: Jerry Rawlings and John Kufuor. Her second outing, “Educating and Healing Africa Out of Poverty,” looked at the creation of the African Union in 1963. She followed it up in 2014 with her movie “Technology in Educational Development ” and A Promising Africa” in 2015.

4. She has interviewed close to 19 world presidents and prime ministers in line with her education advocacy work. which include Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Goodluck Jonathan (Nigeria), Salva Kirr Mayardit (South Sudan), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria),Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), Jorge Fonseco (Cape Verde), Portia Simpson Miller (Jamaica), Thomas Thabane (Lesotho), Ralph Gonsalves (St Vincent & Grenadines) and Denzil Douglas (St Kitts & Nevis) and other celebrities eg the Williams sisters..

5. In 2013, she formally started a project called “Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up”, a campaign for the advocacy and promotion of girl-child education in Africa.

6. Zuriel made history in 2013 when she became the youngest person ever to be interviewed in the August 2013 edition of Forbes Africa Magazine.

7 .She was conferred with an ambassadorial status in Tanzania by the country’s first lady, Mrs. Salma Kikwete in October 2013.

8. Also in November 2013, Oduwole was appointed as the global ambassador of Ethiopian Airlines which would be Zuriel’s official carrier to her many engagements and projects across three continents.

9. In April 21 2014, she was listed as the most powerful 11 year old in the world by New York Business Insider’s in their listing of “World’s Most Powerful Person at Every Age”.

10. In February 2015, Elle Magazine listed her in their annual feature of “33 Women Who Changed The World”, alongside Fed Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and President of General Motors, Mary Barra.

11. Also in 2015, Zuriel and her two younger sisters, Azaliah and Arielle, launched a TV production companycalled ‘Kingdom Child Productions’ chronicling their travels through Africa: African Youth Travels.

12. In June 2016, the Guardian Newspaper signed her on as a Columnist to share her insight on issues as seen by a younger generation and giving her a section and segment for periodic writing. She also became a TEDx circuit speaker when she headlined the TEDx Gbagada event for kids in July 2016 as the featured speaker, talking about the inter-connectivity between the past and future generations.

13. In August 2016, Forbes Africa featured her in their annual Africa’s 100 Most Influential Women’s list, alongside the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ameenah Gurib, President of Mauritius.