The movie EYIMOFE, translated in English simply means ‘This Is My Desire,’ will have its World Premiere at The Berlin International Film Festival.

EYIMOFE, directed by twin brothers Arie & Chuko Esiri, will be shown at the Forum section of next month’s 70th edition.

Presented by GDN Studios the film was written by Chuko Esiri and produced by Melissa Adeyemo.

In 2018, it won the Purple List Award and was one of ten projects chosen for last year’s IFP Narrative Lab in New York.

Fully financed by Nigerian investors and shot on 16mm across Lagos State, Nigeria’s EYIMOFE is a diptych that tells the story of two people’s quest for what they believe will be a better life in Europe.

Described as the alternate migrant tale, EYIMOFE approaches a much-discussed topic from a new perspective; one in which we get to know who the people caught in raids and rescued from the sea are, their dreams and desires.

It stars Jude Akuwudike, Tomiwa Edun, Temi Ami-Williams, Cynthia Ebijie and Jacob Alexander.

One of “Big Three” festivals alongside Cannes and Venice, Nigeria has a history at the Berlinale beginning with Hungarian director Andre Libik’s 1962 documentary short The Ancestors.

Produced by the Ministry of Information, the documentary highlighted ancestral worship in Nigeria and won the Silver Bear.

In 2018 Chuko Esiri and Adamu Halilu were the first Nigerian filmmakers to screen at the festival.

Chuko Esiri’s Besida played in the short film section and Adamu Halilu’s 1976 feature Shaihu Umar, which was restored with the support of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), and German Embassy Abuja, played in the Forum.

An adaptation of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s 1955 novella, Halilu’s film was the first Hausa feature produced by the Federal Film Unit Kaduna.