2006 Theatre GradWins Best Actress Award at Canadian Film Festival FolakeOlowofoyeku Folake Olowofoyeku, a 2006 graduate of CCNY’s Theatre Department, won the Best Actress Award at the ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto last spring. She was selected for her emotive performance in the hit student short “When They Could Fly,” which was written and directed by fellow 2006 graduate Piotr Kajstura.
The Nigerian-born Ms. Olowofoyeku played “Bella,” the female lead, in the 28-minute period piece about magic and its uplifting effect on a group of slaves in the antebellum South. “A lot of hard work went into it,” she said. “I, for one, fasted to get into character because it would be hard for anyone these days to imagine the physical and emotion burden that slaves had to endure.” A Manhattan resident, her acting credits include The Classical Theater of Harlem’s “Trojan Women” and NBC’s “Law & Order.” “When They Could Fly,” Mr. Kajstura’s thesis project in the M.F.A. in Media Arts Production program, has garnered a raft of awards including Best Short Film and Best Overall Film at The Texas Black Film Festival and first place in The Top Ten Films In America Film Festival in Fries, Va.
