Nigerian drama Half Of A Yellow Sun starring Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor will open the 2013 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), festival top brass announced on Monday [29].

Half Of A Yellow Sun will receive its world premiere at Toronto and is Nigeria’s most expensive film to date with a budget of $8m (N1.27bn).

Nigerian writer and playwright Biyi Bandele directed the British-Nigerian co-production and Andrea Calderwood and Gail Ega produced.

The adaptation of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel of the same name is set in 1960s war-torn Nigeria during the struggle for independence.

Anika Noni Rose, John Boyega, Joseph Mawle, Genvieve Nnaji and Onyeka Onwenu round out the key cast.

“We are proud that Half Of A Yellow Sun will open the festival,” said ttff founder and festival director Bruce Paddington. “This continues our mandate to not only show films from the Caribbean and the diaspora but also to celebrate films made in Africa, one of our heritage countries.”

The festival is scheduled to run from Sept 17-Oct 1 in Port Of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.