After running away from home, a 16-year-old rides the waves aboard the large ferry heading from South Shields, England, to Scandinavia, in search of her unknown father.
A multi-hyphenate, Rita was born in North London, England to Ghanaian parents. She first found herself on a set at the Montessori style state school she attended in East London. She graduated from Camberwell College of Arts, where she made her first films, with a Joint Honours BA in Visual Arts.
Her debut feature film BLISS! a rites-of-passage adventure starring Freya Parks, had its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival. She directed 2nd Unit on the closing 2 episodes of SISTER/HBO/Sky series, THE BABY. Rita is developing long form work for Film and TV. Short film credits include AURORA, now available worldwide on SVOD, Logline "A perimenopausal vampire is on a quest to kill a habit that won't die". Winner Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actress In a Drama, Best Supporting Actress In a Drama at Haunted House FearFest, NYC. Nominated Best Director Short Film and Best Actress Short Film Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival London.
The score for AURORA is composed by Oleta Haffner through the inaugural Jonas Gwangwa Music Composition initiative from Mercury Studios, Globe and Decca Records and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rita's Screen South part funded short THE CURRY CLUB stars the late Cleo Sylvestre MBE,Ruth Sheen, Claire-Louise Cordwell and Olivier Award Winner Kenneth Cranham CBE.
She has directed 2 theatre productions, and served as Jury Chair for BAFTA's 75th, 76th & 77th British Short Film Award. Since 2018 she has been promoting female excellence in film direction through her short film festival: 225 Film Club. She served as a juror for BAFTA’s 2024 TV DRAMA: WRITER award, a project assessor for The Uncertain Kingdom’s short film fund, and a juror for the inaugural Chopard X Breaking Through The Lens Action Grant.
BACKGROUND: Rita produced THREESOME, a Telluride premiering short film starring Lesley Vickerage, Stuart Laing and Hugh Quarshie. THREESOME screened at the British Pavilion (Cannes), Raindance, Clermont Ferrand, Newport Rhode Island and numerous additional film festivals, and was distributed on TV by SKY Movies and Canal +.
She began her career assisting producer Nick de Grunwald, developing films and documentaries including Classic Albums for the BBC. She went on to produce multi award winning animation for Turner Broadcasting across Europe. A Founder of Turner Europe’s Diversity Council, Rita arranged deaf awareness training for the U.K creative team after hiring the company’s 1st d/deaf animator.
