Arie and Chuko Esiri, the Nigerian twin brother directors of Directors’ Fortnight title Clarissa, are developing their next feature, Three Souls with UK producer Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo of Turnover Films, and the support of Film4.
Set in Nigeria, it follows a band that is breaking up as the lead singer wants to go in a new, Afrobeats direction. London-based Ibazebo has credits including Rye Lane.
The brothers are attending Cannes for the first time with their adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway. Clarissa has a largely UK cast that includes Sophie Okonedo and David Oyelowo. Chuko has written the script, moving the setting to modern-day Nigeria. Both brothers directed and produced, with US producers Theresa Park for Per Capita Productions and Nicholas Weinstock for Invention Studios, with whom they were connected via their agent.
The film, which was budgeted at under $5m, received around half of its funding from the Afreximbank Creative Africa Nexus fund. Neon is selling the film and will release in the US.
Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway is one of Chuko’s favourite novels. “I saw a lot of myself in the characters, my parents, uncles and aunties,” he says. ”London in the 1920s is not too dissimilar from Nigeria today. They are both very conservative societies.”
The brothers plan to keep working in their home country. Their debut feature Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) premiered at the Berlinale in 2020. They are also developing a Nollywood-inspired ‘whodunnit’, while Chuko’s wishlist of novels to explore adapting includes Toni Morrison’s Jazz and Henry James’ Daisy Miller.
Arie believes there is some way to go for the Nigerian industry to build its ecosystem for independent filmmaking. “Because of a lack of scale, the [Nigerian] industry tends to home in on a specific type of film, one that services the market for profit,” he said.
“We need to have different tastes in the financial structures that exist that allow films to get funded. We need to have more financiers who love to see a really well-made indie movie, that’s going to exist on its merits and not necessarily be a cash cow. That comes with investment, and a type of investment that allows us to scale in the right way.”
Arie and Chuko were born in Nigeria, attended boarding school in the UK and college in the US, studying film at Columbia University and New York University, respectively, before returning to Nigeria as adults.
“We grew up in a household of frustrated artists. Mum was a lawyer, dad was in the oil service industry. I guess kids pick up a lot. Dad was always happy painting, mum always had a room dedicated to books,” said Chuko.
“Ever since we started in film, they’re seeing us trying to make a living, and they’ve followed,” said Arie. “They’ve fallen into their own artistic practices. Dad’s exhibiting [his paintings].”
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