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.

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. 

Mofe
Jude Akuwudike

Jude is a Nigerian-born actor educated in England. He trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and has since performed at some of the best theatres in the UK. His credits include Moon on a Rainbow Shawl directed by Michael Buffong for the National Theatre, The Faith Machine directed by Jamie Lloyd for the Royal Court, Anthony Nielson’s God in Ruins at the Soho Theatre, Macbeth and Macbett at Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and Pericles at The Globe. On television, Jude can be seen in Sky Atlantic's Gangs of London, BBC1's Moving On, Amazon's Fortitude, and Sky One's In The Long Run. 

His film credits include Beasts of No Nation, The Tempest, Touched By A Stranger, Whisper the Way of the Child, Sahara and A World Apart. He has also done extensive work for BBC Radio, including a long run in the World Service’s Resident President and Westway. 

Jude lives in London and Eyimofe is his first film in Nigeria.

Rosa
Temi Ami-Williams

Temi was born and raised in Akowonjo, Lagos Nigeria. She developed an interest in acting through her father’s love for foreign films which she also watched and would then experiment with accents and recite lines. She pursued her interest in acting at the University of Lagos enrolling in the Department of Creative Arts. There she featured in Sad Pink curated by the British Council for the Lagos Theatre Festival 2016, and also worked on Strelitzia by Donna Ogunnaike for the Lagos Theatre Festival 2018.

She lives in Ilupeju, Lagos and has an identical twin. Eyimofe is her first on screen performance.

Grace
Cynthia Ebijie

Cynthia is from Edo State, Nigeria. She started acting in 2018 attending several auditions before being cast in the Mnet series My Siblings And I before going on to play the lead in Chibuike Ibe's Sade Takes Lagos.

In her spare time she attends acting master classes to hone her craft and learn new things. Whether it’s on the internet or in real life she’s always ready to do better and be better. She loves spending time with family and hopes to one day work with Taraji P Henson. She lives in Lagos and is a final year accounting student at Lagos State University.

Seyi
Tomiwa Edun

Tomiwa has been working in Film, TV and Theatre since he graduated from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).  He played the first ever black Romeo at the Globe, starred in the hit BBC drama Merlin, and Abi Morgan’s The Hour alongside Dominic West and Ben Whishaw.  He has featured in a number of shows in the US including Bates Motel, Lucifer, and Elementary.  Films include What Happened To Monday alongside Noomi Rapace, The Dying Of The Light with Nicolas Cage, and In The Cloud, a feature pilot for Crackle.  He is star of the smash-hit The Journey trilogy in the FIFA video-game franchise.

Last year he appeared in SkyOne’s A Discovery Of Witches and played in a run of Translations at the National Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson, receiving rave reviews.  Most recently he can be seen in Botticelli In The Fire at the Hampstead Theatre and The Capture for BBC, and will be seen in the television series Trying for Apple TV+.  

Peter
Jacob Alexander

Jacob started his acting career on stage in Chicago, Illinois US. His theatre credits include theatres such as A Red Orchid Theatre, Facility Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Mary Arrchie Theatre, Trap Door Theatre, Collaboration, Shattered Globe Theatre, The Attic Playhouse. 'I acquired the most essential experience at A Red Orchid Theatre. I was working their box office at the time and I snuck into a rehearsal to watch Michael Shannon while they were working Simpatico by Sam Shepard. Hard to explain...I guess you had to be there'. 

His TV credits include HBO's Girls and CBS's Elementary. Other film credits are Echo Boomers, The Art Police, I Don’t Know How She Does It, The Seashell, and The Return Of Joe Rich.

Jacob lives in Chicago and Eyimofe is his first film in Nigeria. 

Mama Esther
Chioma ‘Chigul’ Omeruah

Chioma best known as Chigul is a master of ceremonies, singer, TV host, actress and comedienne. Breaking into the Nigerian entertainment scene through a series of viral songs and videos, the Chigul persona was born.

She co-hosts EL Rated on Ebony Life TV, and the Nigerian version of the American hit show Kids Say The Darndest Things. She has appeared in the feature films Remember Me, Out Of Luck, the Genevieve Nnaji produced Road To Yesterday, and Lagos Men.  Her first lead role was in BB Sasore’s 2017 comedy Banana Island Ghost.

A seasoned stage actress, Chioma has performed in Nigeria and the US. She is proficient in Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, English, Spanish and French.

Presented by GDN Studios, Eyimofe (This is My Desire) was fully financed within Nigeria and shot on 16mm film across Lagos State. Special thanks to Kodak Labs, Panavision, Technicolor and Postworks in New York.

Directors: Arie & Chuko
Written by: Chuko Esiri
Producers: Melissa Adeyemo / Arie Esiri / Chuko Esiri
Executive Producers: Maiden Alex Ibru / Toke Alex Ibru / Salman Zoueihed / Kayode Akindele / Albert Esiri  / Ifeoma Esiri / Olorugun Oskar Ibru / Christopher Ibru
Director of Photography: Arseni Khachaturan
Production Designer: Taisa Malouf
Costume Designer: Daniel Obasi
Editor: Andrew Stephen Lee
Music: Akin Adebowale
Casting: Lala Akindoju