Chuko Esiri and Arie Esiri: “The more I discovered my roots the more I fell in love once more with the place of my birth”
the guardian nigeriaCLAPPER: Thank you for joining Clapper Ltd here and congratulations on Eyimofe, it’s definitely one of the best films from the festival.
CHUKO: Thank you so much
ARIE: Thank you; we really appreciate it.
Where did the idea for EYIMOFE first come from?
CHUKO: The curdle of this idea came about eight years ago, when I went back to Nigeria to do my national youth service. We both spent the majority of our formative years at boarding school between Nigeria and England, so in getting back to Nigeria I found myself a foreigner in my home country. My immediate want and desire was to leave and go back to what was already familiar to me, but the longer I stayed the closer I got to the country and the people. The more I discovered my roots the more I fell in love once more with the place of my birth. As the world was evolving with the growing migrant crisis, and as Nigeria’s profile was increasing in a more negative light, the story evolved into humanising the people that are often demonised in this situation.
Was this the motive for naming the chapters as countries?
CHUKO: Largely, yes. It did serve a more functional and structural purpose too. For us, it was always a red-herring; we knew the characters would never get anywhere near those places. Labelling the chapters that way and telegraphing what they wanted was a way of keeping their desires in the audience’s mind.
Were the chapters always envisaged as separate stories or were you ever tempted to interweave them?
ARIE: Chuko, throughout all thirteen of his screenwriting drafts, always had chapters, and I was always trying to meddle with that structure. Ultimately I lost the battle but I am happy I did.
How did the casting process work?
A: I had Jude Akuwudike, who plays Mofe, in mind pretty early on. I’d seen some of his theatre performances in the UK, and was consistently mesmerised by his acting. I suggested Jude early in the process - luckily enough that worked out for us. Casting in Nigeria was a completely different process, which Chuko handled so he can speak to this.
C: Casting was more traditional - we put out open calls and whatnot. This is how we found Temi (Ami-Williams), who plays Rosa. With some of the other characters there were people who we had always wanted to work with. Chioma Omeruah, who plays Mama Esther, is a wonderful comedian well known in Nigeria, so we put forward this idea of going against type and starting a working relationship this way.
What was the reason for shooting on 16mm film?
ARIE: I’ve been working on film for two years now, and for me it’s the best technology. There were a number of ways in which we felt justified by this decision. Firstly, it gives Lagos a distinct quality; it’s a very colourful and vibrant place, and I felt that film was the best way to capture that. I also feel like it gives the images a certain intimacy, which lends itself to the story. We wanted audiences to feel connected to these people, to get sucked into this world that would otherwise be alien to them. It also has an archival quality that was really important to us; Lagos has rarely been shot on film, and the fact we’ve done it with this film, where the city is such an integral character, means a lot to us. It’s there for the rest of time, which is a lovely thing to be able to say.
Thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the rest of LFF if you have enough time and best of luck with the remainder of the festival circuit
A: Thank you
C: [laughs] We will try. Thank you.