Writer/director Angela Danielovna Matemotja was born in Kyiv, to a white mother, a black South African father, and was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance. Angela came to filmmaking by way of acting and is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Her directorial debut, SUNSHINE FOR A MIDNIGHT WEARY, garnered her an NAACP Theatre Nomination for the stage play. Her first two multi-award-winning short films, THE ENCOUNTER and THE UNTIMELY CONCURRENCE, which she wrote and directed, screened at film festivals worldwide.
Angela’s first feature, ELEVATE which she also wrote and directed won the Female Pioneer Award at Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, and Best Director at LGBTQ Rainbow Umbrella Film Festival, London in 2019.
Her most recent feature screenplay 1986: A PUNK ROCK LOVE STORY placed at Austin Film Festival 2021, is a Stowe Narrative Lab selected project 2022, and a semi-finalist at CineStory and is currently in development.
Selected Accolades, Fellowships & Labs
Director's Statement
As a teenager I didn't listen to New Edition or Prince like other black girls. I didn't go to football games, I took the bus from Torrance, to Melrose Ave in Hollywood, to buy Dr. Martens and punk rock records.
Like every punk teen at the time, I was also watching Stanley Kubricks’ A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and Penelope Spheeris’ SUBURBIA. The feature I am currently developing is inspired by my early teen years, and is entitled: 1986 A PUNK ROCK LOVE STORY.
A great deal of who I am today was carved out in that world. I still go to shows and nothing excites me more than seeing a new band with an edge, and with something to say.
I'm an independent filmmaker who found inspiration from independent punk rock artists who had the wherewithal to produce their own records when mainstream record labels wouldn't.
Punk rock taught me what is possible for me as an independent artist. In the words of D. Boon: Punk rock changed my life.
I write and direct dramas about belonging, identity, and race. Also, I jump at any chance to direct a music video for a great punk or ska band!