Director Matt Ogens has an affinity for connecting audiences with people from different walks of life, particularly real-life protagonists who are seeking a sense of acceptance and belonging. In order to do that in his films, Ogens must first connect personally with the subjects themselves, their humanity and aspirations. Two of his most recent documentaries are shining examples of this–Audible which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2022, and the feature-length Madu which premiered last month on Disney+.
Audible, a Netflix Original, introduced us to Maryland School for the Deaf high school football player Amaree McKenstry, his teammates and close friends–including girlfriend Lera Walkup and cheerleader Jalen Perry (who has since become Jazie, identifying as female)–as they face the pressures of senior year while grappling with the realities of venturing into the hearing world.
Fast forward to Madu for which Ogens teams with co-director Joel Kachi Benson to chronicle the life of 12-year-old Anthony Madu who leaves his home in Nigeria for London to study at one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world. The lad’s journey takes him from practicing dance barefoot on the streets of Lagos to becoming an online viral sensation–which is how the school discovered him–and then performing on stage in England. Thrust into a new world, the youngster chases his dream, deals with self-doubt, looks to belong amidst new friendships, and has to cope with an unexpected medical issue.
Ogens–who generally directs solo spanning short and long-form fare, including commercials and branded content via production house m ss ng p eces–decided to bring in a co-helmer for Madu, feeling the need for a Nigerian filmmaker to help him capture and do justice to a very different culture. He saw a short film by Benson, naturally gravitated towards him and felt a personal connection. “I saw part of Anthony’s story in him,” related Ogens, noting that just as Anthony Madu longed to be a dancer, an unconventional pursuit for a young man in Nigeria, so too did Benson choose an atypical path–that of a documentary filmmaker. Both had to find their way, a sense of belonging, and at times deal with isolation and a lack of acceptance.
Just as Ogens immersed himself in the Deaf community so that he could similarly immerse viewers during the course of Audible, so too did he and Benson get to know Anthony Madu, spend dinnertime with his family at their home in Nigeria–in order to create a meaningful connection with them so that the film in turn could meaningfully connect an audience with the youngster, his friends and family. For documentaries such as Audible and Madu, Ogens shared that he spends a lot of time talking to the characters about “how they see, feel and fear the world,” and then looks “to translate that into a visual language for the film.”
The director described himself as a “nerd” for visual craft and bringing it to character-driven stories and universal themes. “A lot of that aesthetic,” he said, “comes from directing commercials, working with so many different DPs and cameras.” Elevating visual storytelling elevates the documentary form, he reasoned, making the experience all the more immersive for audiences.
But the story has to be there–or you have nothing. Ogens saw the original amateur video of Madu dancing in the streets before it went wildly viral, eliciting repostings by celebs and so on. The sight of the youngster dancing barefoot in the rain stirred Ogens. It was more than the juxtaposition of a boy expressing himself through dance against an impoverished backdrop. “He was a kid who looked confident, courageous as if he didn’t have a care in the world,” recalled Ogens who instinctively knew there was a story to be told. Later joining him in that belief was Disney which greenlit and financed the project–and this was even before the lad received the scholarship from Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham, England.
Thus much of the story was shot as it happened. “Emotionally we knew he was going somewhere,” said Ogens–and that was prior to any notion that a scholarship and a life in another country were in the offing. “We were there [filming] when he got the scholarship, when he packed to go to England, when he got on the plane, when his medical condition became known [in the U.K.]…The film gods shone upon us,” adding elements of joy, tension and conflict to the story.
Young Madu’s perseverance, resilience and courage came to the fore, with Ogens feeling privileged to be there to witness and share it with others.
Ogens found Madu’s story deeply inspiring, noting that the youngster had “seemingly impossible dreams” but refused to stop pursuing them–despite being upset at times and on occasion plagued with self-doubt. In Nigeria, his desire to be a ballet dancer was frowned upon and viewed by many as odd. That wasn’t the case in the U.K. but it was replaced with another concern–that he might not be good enough, especially when compared to classmates who had been formally trained in ballet starting at a very early age.
Still, Madu held steadfast, leading Ogens to affirm, “Hopefully that inspires all of us to keep going.” The director said it’s a matter of maintaining a positive mindset, observing that “at the end of the day what he [Madu] figured out was he needs to accept himself–and he did.”
Ogens shared that going into any project, his mantra is "to be curious” and “to be kind.” Coming out the other side of the Madu documentary, Ogens said that the experience of telling the youngster’s story “taught me to be a kinder, gentler person,” while also underscoring the importance of humility. “I always want to be a beginner. I don’t want to know everything or think that I know everything. There’s no room to grow. As a filmmaker and a human, it’s the same–to be a beginner. That way you can always learn.”
Back in the day when Ogens was closer to beginner status professionally, he earned inclusion in SHOOT’s 2005 New Directors Showcase. He’s gone on to establish himself in short and long-form filmmaking. In the advertising arena, Ogens has directed major campaigns for Land Rover, Activision’s Call of Duty, Under Armour, the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai, Toyota, and Super Bowl work for Verizon. He’s earned several notable awards including Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show distinction, a Webby Award, and the SXSW Interactive Award.
A Toyota campaign with a Friday Night Lights feel proved particularly significant. It centered on football at varied local high schools–one of them happened to be the Maryland School for the Deaf, near where Ogens grew up. Ogens soon recognized that there was more of a story in that school than could be fit into a commercial. He envisioned a coming-of-age story, not a football story, from the point of view of a high school senior. For 12 years, Ogens persisted, recasting 11 times annually in the hope he could bring the documentary to fruition. Along the way he met resistance, the rationale being there was no audience for Deaf stories, for a film with little or no spoken words. But in his heart, Ogens felt there was an audience. After assorted starts and stops, with different partners, Audible came to pass and earned an Oscar nomination.
Ogens added that there’s also cross-pollination of talent between his commercialmaking and longer-form film endeavors–a prime example being colorist Paul Yacono of The Mill. Yacono colored Audible and Madu, as well as several of Ogens’ most recent commercials. Ogens is grateful for how his commercialmaking has informed his longer form films–and conversely how his work on projects like Audible and Madu has enabled him to bring something special back to his branded storytelling.
