Black Tea Party Featuring A Film Showing of The Award Winning Film Eyimofe

CO-DIRECTOR ARIE ESIRI

Finding photography in Paris, Arie honed his craft before returning to England where he worked in the camera departments of a number of projects ranging from Audi to Vivienne Westwood and the BBC. In the work of Vittorio De Sica, Arie found a form of storytelling that could give voice to the long neglected tales of the average Nigerian.

He has a Master's of Fine Arts from Columbia University in New York. While there he continued to collaborate with his brother Chuko, co-directing their short Goose, which played at the 2017 LA Film Festival and producing Besida, an official selection at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival. He also produce Chika Anadu’s AMAA and AFI Fest award winning feature B for Boy.

His work as a director has been featured on Vogue and Essence.com. He is an IFP Narrative Lab Fellow who currently divides his time between Lagos and New York. Eyimofe is his first feature film.

CO-DIRECTOR CHUKO ESIRI

After graduating law school miserable, Chuko moved to New York and rattled around internships at The Gersh Agency and Innovative Artists where he learned about the film business and discovered the concept of  film school.

Building on connections made during his time in New York, Chuko returned to Nigeria and produced Julius Onah’s, Big Man as part of Focus Feature‘s Africa First Program. He went on to make two more short films: Goose, co-directed with twin brother, Arie, that premiered at the 2017 LA Film Festival and Besida, an official selection at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival.

He has a Masters in Fine Arts from New York University (NYU) where he was a Purple List Winner with Eyimofe script and is an IFP Narrative Lab Fellow. He lives in Lagos and Eyimofe is his first feature film.

Set in Lagos, Nigeria Eyimofe (This is My Desire) 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.

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.

Be apart of this exclusive and special experience and get your tickets! Space is limited!