Eyimofe to screen at Sharjah Film platform festival in UAE

Nigerian feature film, Eyimofe (This is my Desire) , has been selected to screen at this year’s edition of Sharjah Film Platform 3 (SFP3) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Now in its third edition, the film festival, which opens November 14, will feature over 60 short and feature-length films, a public programme of talks and workshops, as well as the SFP Industry Hub and awards.

For this year, Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) has announced an expanded programme for Sharjah Film Platform (SFP). It will offer a line-up of film screenings online and in cinemas, including award-winning films, as well as new and never-before-seen films.

Alongside the screenings, SFP will feature talks on contemporary topics in film and awards for the best documentary, experimental and narrative films.

Screenings will take place at the Foundation’s contemporary open-air Mirage City Cinema, the recently renovated Flying Saucer and Cinemacity IMAX at Zero 6 Mall in Sharjah, UAE, from November 14 to 21, 2020.

Online screenings will be hosted on the foundation’s virtual festival platform, which will also present the extensive talks and workshops programme. The festival’s film screening programme will open with the premiere of Soha Shukayr’s In the Time of Revolution, an original short film supported by the Foundation’s Short Film Production Grant 2020.

Works-in-progress by the other 2020 grantees, Nadia Amrani, Pelin Tan and Anton Vidokle, will also be presented on opening night.
Featuring more than 60 films from around the world, SFP3 includes the Middle East premieres of the acclaimed films The Shepherdess and The Seven Songs (2020) by Pushpendra Singh, Epicentro (2020) by Hubert Sauper and Eyimofe (This is My Desire, 2020) by Arie and Chuko Esiri.

Presented by GDN Studios, the 114 minutes film was directed by twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri and produced by Melissa Adeyemo. It features the likes of Jude Akuwudike, Temi Ami-Williams, Cynthia Ebijie, Sadiq Daba, Tomiwa Edun, Jacobs Alexander, Chioma ‘Chigul’ Omeruah and others.

Executive Producers include, Maiden Alex Ibru, Toke Alex Ibru, Olorogun Oskar Ibru, Kayode Akindele and Ifeoma Esiri.

Funded entirely in Nigeria, shot in 16mm and filmed across 48 locations in Lagos, Eyimofe, a two-chapter film, follows the stories of Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), a factory technician, and Rosa (Temi Ami-Williams), a hairdresser, on their quest for what they believe will be a better life on foreign shores.

A passport, photos and a visa form recurring elements. The characters’ misfortunes are part of their everyday life and they are sketching out the need to leave Nigeria at the same time. At the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, status, money, gender, skin colour and family structures are inextricably connected. The longing for another life is but one thread in this complex mesh, a promise that floats above things at once near and far away.

Eyimofe was funded entirely in Nigeria and shot in 16mm and filmed across 48 locations in Lagos, the drama follows the stories of Mofe, a factory technician, and Rosa, a hairdresser, on their quest for what they believe will be a better life on foreign shores.

SFP3 film screenings will also be available on the festival’s online platform.