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UAlbany Grad, Film Director, Makes Literary Debut

Osaretin Oghomwen
J. Quazi King
Osaretin Oghomwen

A University at Albany grad who has directed three successful short films is dabbling in the literary world.

Osaretin Oghomwen is a staunch advocate of women's empowerment and the roles women are taking on today.

High school experiences helped shape her unique perspective.  "I always was really artistic and writing was really natural for me. Actually I was 15 when I caught the filmmaking bug. And so I feel like my entire life has been like a balance between pursuing scientific interests and also wanting to satisfy my artistic self."

Her 2012 short film “Infatuation” was followed by “Goodbye, Apathy” in 2013 and  2015’s “Date Me Not.” All were critically acclaimed.

https://vimeo.com/78222155">Goodbye, Apathy excerpt by https://vimeo.com/user11906917">Osaretin Oghomwen on Vimeo.

And like most people, Oghomwen would write things, here and there, save clippings and photographs, in what she admits was a very random fashion.   "My freshman year was spent at a Pennsylvania school, and I wanted to make my first short film and I was trying to think of creative ways to fundraise. I wanted to create like this confessional that I could sell and raise funds for the film. I actually met somebody randomly at a grocery store that gave me the money for my short film, it was really coincidental and I didn't have a need to fundraise for my film anymore. But the idea of creating a compilation of secrets and confessionals really stuck with me. So I spent the next six years just compiling intimate things and secrets that I considered to be my own perspectives on things, like my own egocentric and provocative viewpoints on things."

Building on her personal outlook and growing attraction to the women's empowerment movement, Oghomwen decided it was time to share her views in book form.    "I am celebrating and uplifting women and I am presenting my argument of why I feel like women are a superior gender. Presenting the advantages I see in my gender and praising my own gender, which I've gotten a lot of hate and intense feelings for. A lot of people don't appreciate my viewpoints on that, especially with some men that I have shared with. I just feel like because women have not really been involved in the type of violent ways that men have, so that is one of the arguments I make for why we are more advantageous as a gender."

The 26-year old graduated from UAlbany in 2013. She currently resides in Queens, New York.

With gender, Oghomwen tackles racial issues and popourri of social topics.  "So it was originally called 'The Motley Expose' and motley because it is a little bit assorted and random in its layout. A year or two ago I decided to call it 'l'etoiler,' which is derived from the French word 'L'etoile' and 'L'etoile' means 'star.'L'etoile is my favorite word in the human language."

The mysteries of L'etoiler await new readers :  CLICK HERE for more!

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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