Film  

Eyimofe bags historic NAACP Image Awards nomination

By Ifeanyi Ibeh

19 January 2022   |   5:57 pm

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Nigerian feature film, Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), has made history as the first Nigerian film to earn an NAACP Image Awards nomination. Directed by the Esiri twins – Arie and Chuko Esiri – and presented by GDN Studios, a subsidiary of The Guardian Group, publishers of The Guardian newspapers, Eyimofe received its historic NAACP…

Nigerian feature film, Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), has made history as the first Nigerian film to earn an NAACP Image Awards nomination.

Directed by the Esiri twins – Arie and Chuko Esiri – and presented by GDN Studios, a subsidiary of The Guardian Group, publishers of The Guardian newspapers, Eyimofe received its historic NAACP nomination for ‘Outstanding International Motion Picture.’

Other films nominated alongside the award-winning Eyimofe are 7 Prisoners (Brazil), African America (South Africa), Flee (Denmark), and The Gravedigger’s Wife (Somalia).

Eyimofe won’t be alone in flying the Nigerian flag when the NAACP Image Awards comes up on February 26, as Nigerian music stars, Wizkid, Fireboy, Tiwa Savage, and Omah Lay were also nominated in the Outstanding International Song category.

Wizkid was nominated for “Essence”, featuring Tems and Justin Bieber, while Fireboy DML got the nomination for his hit song, “Peru”.

Tiwa Savage’s “Somebody’s Son”, featuring Brandy, gained her nomination, while Omah Lay received his nomination for “Understand.”

Winners will be revealed during a two-hour special, hosted by seven-time NAACP Image Awards winner Anthony Anderson.

NAACP, an acronym for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavour to advance justice for African Americans.

The annual awards show, now in its 53rd edition, highlights the achievements of people of colour across television, music, literature and film, and the promotion of social justice through their creative accomplishments.

Eyimofe, a revelatory, award-winning debut feature from Arie and Chuko Esiri, is a heartrending and hopeful portrait of everyday human endurance in Lagos, Nigeria.

Shot on richly textured 16 mm film and infused with the spirit of neorealism, Eyimofe traces the journeys of two distantly connected strangers — Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), an electrician dealing with the fallout of a family tragedy, and Rosa (Temi Ami-Williams), a hairdresser supporting her pregnant teenage sister — as they each pursue their dream of starting a new life in Europe while bumping up against the harsh economic realities of a world in which every interaction is a transaction.

From these intimate stories emerges a vivid snapshot of life in contemporary Lagos, whose social fabric is captured in all its vibrancy and complexity.