Move beyond the familiar Jim Brown story.
A conventional sports profile could not contain the full weight of Brown’s legacy or its connection to ancestral resistance, Igbo Landing and Gullah Geechee memory.
OA / FILM 003NFL 360202400:00:00
The Chief Who Walked the Sea
- ROLE
- DIRECTOR / ANIMATION
- FORMAT
- SHORT DOCUMENTARY
- PLATFORM
- NFL NETWORK
- RECOGNITION
- 4 EMMY® NOMINATIONS
THE PROJECT / 2024
A mixed-media meditation connecting the legends of Nigeria’s Igbo people and the Gullah Geechee coast to the modern legacy of Jim Brown.
Co-directed by Omar Acosta and Osahon Tongo, with animation by Acosta, the NFL 360 short uses poetry, collage, cinematography and motion to build a visual bridge between Igbo Landing, ancestral resistance and Brown’s enduring force. Tongo also produced the film.
Build a bridge through mixed media.
Direction, poetry, collage, animation and cinematography connect public history with spiritual memory, giving the film a visual language capable of holding both.
Story and design received equal recognition.
The NFL 360 film earned four Sports Emmy nominations across Short Feature, Editing, Writing and Graphic Design.
RECEPTION / IMPACT
The film’s mixed-media language connected Jim Brown’s public legacy to Igbo Landing, Gullah Geechee memory and the history of collective resistance.
45TH EMMY® AWARDS4 NOMINATIONSNATAS · 2024 ↗
CATEGORY 01SHORT FEATUREOUTSTANDING
CATEGORY 02 / 03EDITING + WRITINGSHORT FORM
CATEGORY 04GRAPHIC DESIGNSPECIALTY
OUTCOME
The four nominations recognized the work across story, craft and visual language. NFL 360 received 11 nominations that year, the most for a single program. This film accounted for four of them.
CREDITS / RECOGNITION
- DIRECTORSOMAR ACOSTA · OSAHON TONGO
- ANIMATIONOMAR ACOSTA
- PRODUCEROSAHON TONGO
- EDITORSEAN ADDO
- PLATFORMNFL 360 / NFL NETWORK
- EMMY®OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE · EDITING SHORT FORM · DICK SCHAAP WRITING SHORT FORM · GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALTY