Nigerian film selected for New York festival

Nigerian feature film ‘Eyimofe’ has been selected for the 50th anniversary edition of the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York.

The movie follows factory worker technician Mofe, played by Jude Akuwudike, and Hairdresser Rosa, played by Temi Ami-Williams, on their quest for what they hope will be a better life on foreign shores. However, things take a sudden shift as Mofe loses his family, while Rosa fails to live up to the expectations and promise she made to Mofe.

Eyimofe (translated to “this is my desire”) tells the story of migrants and their pursuit for better lives in Europe (Italy and Spain specifically).

Eyimofe, presented by Guardian’s GDN studios, is directed by twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, who also produced the movie alongside Melissa Adeyemo.

The film stars Nigerian talents including Jude Akuwudike, Tomiwa Edun, Temi Ami-Williams, Cynthia Ebijie, and Jacob Alexander and international act, Goodness Emmanuel among several others.

In 2018, Eyimofe was one of the winners of New York University’s Purple List, an annual selection of the best production-ready screenplays from its Tisch School of the Arts.

Additionally, the film has now landed an international deal with the New York-based Aspect Ratio Sales which taken sales rights of the film which exclude Africa and Asia where GDN Studios will continue to retain the rights.

Eyimofe is being recognized globally among 27 features and 11 short films at the film at Lincoln Center, and the Museum of Modern Art’s virtual cinemas, for representing the present and anticipating the future of cinema.

The film, which has been shown at other international film festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival, will be screened alongside other global selections such as Amalia Ulman’s ‘el planeta’ and Theo Anthony‘s ‘All Light, Everywhere.’

Eyimofe was the first independent film from Nigeria to premier at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The New Directors/New Films festival has seen top directors including Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Agnès Varda walk through its Lincoln center, over the past five decades.

Kola Tella

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