“This was the film there was no turning back from. It’s the reason I’m making films today.“ —Julius Onah shares the five movies that made him want to be a filmmaker.

Nigerian-American 36-year-old producer and director Julius Onah (twin brother of director Anthony Onah) tackles the multitudes of identity in his new film Luce, a complex psychological drama starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. as a former Eritrean child soldier adopted by white liberal Americans (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth), who is confronted by his teacher (Octavia Spencer) after she discovers a concerning essay on political violence in his locker.

The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to warm praise. Letterboxd member BrandonHabes describes it as a “smart, sophisticated examination of identity and racial stereotyping, a film that pivots on deception and drips with rich ambiguity”. “Bold, daring, gripping, and tense while being performed and staged within an inch of its life” raves Jeff Stewart, while fellow Sundance attendee Ryan hopes that the film “will change how people watch movies”.

Onah interned for his professor Spike Lee while studying for his Masters in Fine Arts at NYU. Lee later signed on as executive producer for Onah’s 2015 debut film and thesis piece The Girl is in Trouble. Onah was then tapped by J.J. Abrams to direct God Particle, later known as The Cloverfield Paradox, which infamously dropped a few hours after its announcement at the 2018 Super Bowl. (We covered the stats of that night here.)

We asked Onah to take us on a journey of movie discovery. In naming these five films, he outlines why they stand head-and-shoulders above others in influencing his career as a filmmaker. See the list on Letterboxd or read on for more. (The films are in no particular order.)

Three Colours: Blue (1993)

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Blue was the one. I still remember watching it by myself alone on a Friday night at the age of twelve on TV. I didn’t know films like this existed. The opening car crash. Juliette Binoche’s face. The incredible camera work by Slawomir Idziak. The majestic score from Zbigniew Preisner. And the way Krzysztof Kieslowski brings it all together to explore grief and renewal in the context of a Europe redefining itself as well. This was the film there was no turning back from. It’s the reason I’m making films today.

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Directed by Spike Lee

I was also only about twelve when I first saw Do the Right Thing. The only other Spike Lee I’d seen before it was Malcolm X. It was soon after I moved to America. I loved X, but Do the Right Thing got seared into my mind. The colors and textures of Ernest Dickerson’s photography. Bill Lee’s vibrant score. Every. Single. Performance. And of course the powerful ending Spike crafted. The questions it asked of all of us are ones America is still struggling to answer.

Secrets & Lies (1996)

Directed by Mike Leigh

I’ll never forget Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s face in this movie. Or Brenda Blethyn’s as well. At the age of thirteen, it was one of the first times I saw a movie where people actually felt like… people. The simplicity of the storytelling was the reason it was able to resonate with so much complexity. Yet Dick Pope’s photography was still richly cinematic. This was my first Mike Leigh movie. It made me want to seek out everything he did.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

The Shining was my first Kubrick movie, but it took revisiting years afterwards to full comprehend its achievement. But A Clockwork Orange landed on the first bounce when I saw it at fourteen. From the pull-back from Alex’s face in the Korova Milk Bar to the final slow-motion fantasy shot of him, I was hooked by the ruthless intelligence, satirical wit and moral complexity of what Kubrick was exploring by way of Anthony Burgess’ novel. That and of course Wendy Carlos’ absolutely groundbreaking score.

In The Mood for Love (2000)

Directed by Wong Kar-Wai

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this film. Days of Being Wild is probably my favorite WKW. But this was the one that helped cement the passion to pursue filmmaking when I was seventeen. The grace and subtlety of the story. The way it operates as a memory play that still feels like a present-tense story that isn’t just drowned in nostalgia. The perfect harmony of William Chang’s editing, production and costume design and the image-making of Mark Lee Ping-Bing and Christopher Doyle. It’s so rare to see a movie where every single element of the filmmaking is so in sync and all in service of the incredible performances by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

Distributed by Neon, ‘Luce’ is in US cinemas now. Portrait by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, from left: Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth, Julius Onah, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Naomi Watts.