Eyimofe (Yoruba for ‘This Is My Desire’) is a story of two Lagosians desperate for a better life in Europe. It has been described as an alternate migrant tale because it offers a new perspective, one that focuses on the people caught in raids and rescued from the sea. Directed by twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, the movie stars Jude Akuwudike, Tomiwa Edun, Temi Ami-Williams, Cynthia Ebijie and Jacob Alexander.
“Eyimofe” is the only movie from Nigeria and Africa showing in the forum category at this year’s festival. Back in 2018, Chuko Esiri and Adamu Halilu became the first Nigerian filmmakers to ever screen at the prestigious festival. Esiri’s “Besida” played in the short film section while Halilu’s 1976 feature “Shaihu Umar“, an adaptation of Sir Tafawa Balewa showed in the forum. Before the world premiere debut at the Berlin film festival, the movie won the Purple List Award in 2018. It was also one of ten projects chosen for last year’s IFP Narrative Lab in New York.
The film will be represented by Aspect Ratio, (a New York-based acquisition agency that represents “radical and boundary-pushing directors”), who have secured its distribution rights outside of Asia and Africa, where Lagos-based GDN Studios, who co-produced the feature with the US-based Ominira Studios, retains. Abba Makama’s The Lost Okoroshi and Cidade Passaro (Shine Your Eyes), a Nigerian-Brazilian production will be screened at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The event kicks off on Thursday, February 20th and ends on Sunday, March 1, 2020.
