Adesuwa JoanaReiterer
Joana Adesuwa Reiterer is a Nigerian-born Austrian Entrepreneur and filmmaker who launched her first side business in fashion and film at age 16 in her hometown, Benin City, Edo state while studying polymer technology. Her passion for creative art led her into the Nigerian film industry as early as 1997, where she served as an actor and all-rounder on production sets.
Joana acting in Nollywood, 1997
During book release tour "Ware Frau"
Joana congratulated by the Austrian president, 2010
Joana presents film copies to GPI, Edo State
After Adesuwa relocated to Vienna, Austria, she founded the civil society Organisation EXIT to advocate for Nigerian women who were survivors of human trafficking. In collaboration with a team of advocate lawyers, Adesuwa led and won the first case for a Nigerian victim of human trafficking, prompting the asylum court to grant the victim protection in Austria. This victory set a precedent in Austrian law for future cases.
Joana during media tour
Advocacy Through Media
During her work to advocate for survivors of human trafficking and sexual violence, she worked with several renowned media houses and personalities, amongst whom were two Austrian journalists, Corinna Milborn and Mary Kreutzer, to release the first book on the Human trafficking of Nigeria women in Europe called "Ware Frau" (Women as commodities) released in 2008. The book exposed the role of European politics and legislation that provide a fertile environment to exploit the victims. Being the first African woman to speak against the exploitation and ill-treatment of Nigerian trafficked women in Austria, she became famous for her outward activism, leading to high media attention and nominations for her work.
Impact Through Creativity
Adesuwa produced several short films, including the short feature film "Are We Aware," starring a popular Austria personality to raise awareness about human trafficking. One of her films became a training tool for the UNODC and IOM used in 6 European countries in the fight against human trafficking. She organised a film festival in Nigeria called the "Nawa Film Festival", hosting prominent voices from Nollywood like Uche Jumbo, among others. As an actress, Adesuwa acted with Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, starring as "Selma" during the UN role-play in the Austrian parliament and later in New York. Joana Adesuwa Reiterer became nominated to the Alumni of Young Political Leaders (European minority) by the Obama administration in 2009.
AutobiographyContent
In 2008, Adesuwa released her autobiography book called "Die Wassergöttin "available throughout bookstores in German-speaking Europe and online. In 2011, she released a documentary novel called "Hexen Kind" and continued her book tours and speaking engagements throughout German-speaking Europe. The same year, Adesuwa became the lead protagonist for the German TV station BR documentary "Joana und die Mächte der Finsternis", aired on ARD, ZDF and the Austrian National TV, ORF. Since then, she has worked with several companies to develop media reports, documentaries and ventures.
Joana Adesuwa Reiterer
Joana acting with Emma Thompson
During TV show "2 minutes, 2 million"
During Book presentation tour, BPW Salzburg
Empowerment Through Business
Along with her work as an Author, filmmaker, mother, speaker and advocate, Joana launched the "Joadre Fashion" fashion project to directly empower young women in Nigeria. She became one of the successful participants during the Austrian Television Investment show Puls4, "2 minutes, 2 million", where she pitched the Joadre Fashion project. The Joadre fashion trained over 300 young men and women, allowing them to retail their products globally by collaborating with several Austrian social impact investors and the government. This project led to the launching of the Joadre Fashion retail platform and numerous training vlogs on the business platform to keep the social impact sustainable for the trainees.
Growth Through Access
Since the COVID pandemic, Adesuwa has rededicated her energy to film and content production after she launched a new edutainment platform for entrepreneurs, "JoadreTRIBE". JoadreTRIBE is a web app platform that enables African entrepreneurs and students to find and develop their ideas. Joana Adesuwa Reiterer has received several awards for her work and became the first person to be awarded the prestigious human rights award by the "Austrian League for Human Rights" in 2009. She currently lives between family life in the countryside of Austria and projects in Nigeria. Joana is working on several film projects and with several international production companies to develop cross-continent films.
