Boma Iluma grew up between Abuja, Nigeria, and Atlanta, Georgia; he has strong emotional and familial connections to both places, communities, and histories. Through acting in commercials (Cartoon Network; the NBA) and acting on the Atlanta theater scene, he cultivated his interest in filmmaking and began directing.
His directorial debut – visual art piece Negus – foregrounds how Blackness in America involves being actively unseen and violently misunderstood. It premiered in Los Angeles art circles in 2019. He then directed Heirs for Nike’s Air Jordan –– a diverse, Generation Z reimagining of the brand. The piece premiered in 2020 at New York Fashion Week and was showcased at Jumpman, LA.
His narrative short film, Comfort, which was selected in Hillman Grad’s Rising Voices initiative, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2021 and was acquired by Amazon Prime Video for distribution. He was subsequently handpicked by Roman Coppola to write and direct a segment in The Seven Faces of Jane, an innovative feature weaving together eight different 8 to 12-minute narrative short films. The Nigerian-raised filmmaker has since moved into branded content and commercials, collaborating with brands such as Adidas, Oakley, The New Yorker, Jeep, Ford, Nissan, and more.
In the Summer of 2022, Boma made his episodic Television debut on Paramount+/Showtime's The Chi and has since directed four episodes, becoming one of the youngest directors in the network's history. Subsequently, his short film Comfort was on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art's +234 Connect Exhibition, a celebration of Nigerian art and filmmaking. The short was later exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Boma was selected by the Creative Collective NYC to be part of the 2023 Creative Class of Black Culture Shifters in the entertainment and arts. He has directed music videos and stage visuals for artists including Pink Pantheress, Camila Cabello, Chlöe Bailey, JoJo, Oxlade, Mahalia, and has also collaborated with Parkwood Entertainment.
In December 2024, Boma was featured on Dazed Magazine's Dazed100 list of next generation artists and creatives driving youth culture forward, under Art & Photography. This was followed by Boma being featured on the 2025 Forbes 30 under 30, Hollywood & Entertainment list. That fall, Boma was selected as part of the inaugural cohort of Square Peg Social, a mentorship program led by Ari Aster and his producing partner Lars Knudsen, where he was chosen as one of the director mentees.
In March 2026, his feature film BAKO was selected as one of nine projects in the inaugural Next Narrative Africa Fund, which he is co-writing and developing as his directorial debut.
