Eyimofe, the multiple award-winning Nigerian feature film, has been picked along with nine others on a shortlist of top films from Africa, Asia and Latin America by The Guardian of the UK.
The top British media organisation commissioned its writers to pick their favourite recent world cinema releases and Eyimofe and four other films from Africa ended up on the exclusive 10-film list.
Selected alongside Eyimofe, were Faya Dayi (Ethiopia), The Gravedigger’s Wife (Djibouti), The Rumba Kings (DR Congo), and Feathers (Egypt).
Others are The Great Indian Kitchen (India), Manco Cápac (Peru), I am Belmaya (Nepal), Antara: Songs of Afternoon (Bangladesh), and Suspensión (Colombia).
Emmanuel Akinwotu, the West Africa correspondent of The Guardian (UK), described Eyimofe (This is My Desire in Yoruba) as “a beautifully subtle and moving film that follows two unrelated people, Mofe and Rosa, who are both full of dreams of leaving overwhelming economic struggles in Nigeria for a fresh start in Europe.”
He added: “Just as striking as their layered, individual stories, which each form half of the film, is the backdrop of Lagos and how it is depicted by debut film-makers, twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri. Shot entirely in 16mm, the film offers a sensitive and pensive illustration of a city that is often cast as teeming and frenetic, full of vibrancy and the extremes of wealth and poverty. Yet in Eyimofe, the reality of working-class life is shown with nuance, hope and hopelessness.
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