Our Chancellor

Amma Asante MBE

Amma Asante MBE was inaugurated as Norwich’s second Chancellor, following the late Sir John Hurt, who held the role from 2013 to 2017.

Amma is a multi-award winning writer and director who won a BAFTA for her first film, A Way of Life (2004). This made Amma the first Black director to win a BAFTA Film Award for writing and directing a feature film. The film went on to garner 17 additional awards worldwide, including FIPRESCI, and Grand Jury prizes.

Her follow up movie, Belle (2013) drew widespread critical acclaim, going on to become one of the highest grossing independent films of the year and saw Amma named one of CNN’s Leading Women of 2014, as well as being named by Variety as one of their 10 Directors to watch.

In 2016, A United Kingdom, (2016) directed by Amma for Pathé and Fox Searchlight US, was released and its European Premiere saw Amma celebrated as the first Black director to open the BFI London Film Festival in its 60 year history. The film starred Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo and was hailed as one of the top 10 films of 2016 by BBC and The Observer critic Mark Kermode

In 2017, Amma was named an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s list, for Services to Film as a Writer and Director. She is a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences, has twice been elected to the council of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Amma’s most recent film, is Where Hands Touch (2018) The film, inspired by historical events, starring Amandla Stenberg, is set in 1944 Germany, and was distributed world wide by Sony.

Amma will helm, the film adaptation of The Billion Dollar Spy for Walden Media and Weed Road. Based on the book by journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, David E. Hoffman, The Billion Dollar Spy tells the true story of Adolf Tolkachev, who became the Pentagon’s most valuable spy during the last years of the Cold War.

For television, Amma has additionally directed episodes of Hulu-MGM’s The Handmaid’s Tale (season 3) and the critically acclaimed “Shirley” and “Betty” episodes of Cate Blanchett’s first US television series, Mrs America for FX – Hulu.

Amma’s distinguished screen career began as a child actress, starring in the iconic BBC TV children’s show Grange Hill as Cheryl Webb. She was among the cast members to front the “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign of the 1980s and was among nine of the actors to take it to the Reagan White House.

Amma went on to gain credits in other British television series including Desmond’s (Channel 4) and Birds of a Feather (BBC1), before moving to screenwriting, penning and producing two series of Brothers and Sisters for BBC Two and securing development deals with Channel 4, BBC and Chrysalis.

“Norwich University of the Arts is a truly incredible environment to foster and nurture creativity. I am proud to add my voice to theirs in affirming the message that art and creativity are essential to our culture, belong to us all and are at their most vibrant and relevant when they allow the space for a variety of voices. I am inspired by the work that the university does in collaborating with its students to continually deliver the next generation of artists, and I’m honoured to follow in the footsteps of the late John Hurt in becoming Chancellor.”