Nigerian twin brothers and filmmakers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri offer a contemporary adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, boldly transposing it from twentieth-century London to twenty-first-century Lagos, Nigeria. While retaining the original’s form - a portrait of an era and a narrative of memory unfolding through stream of consciousness, centered on a single day in the life of the upper-class woman Clarissa - the film adds layers of new historical contexts concerning colonialism and postcolonialism, class and identity. As old friends gather one by one at Clarissa’s house in preparation for a party that night, choices and loves from long ago, along with lost possibilities and bonds from the past, surface through the cracks of time. Clarissa’s grand residence transforms into a vast stage reflecting contemporary African society, and the camera, following the course of a single night’s party, captures the subtle contours of intimate emotions drifting between the characters. The elegantly restrained long takes and the mise-en-scene, stripped of artifice, leave a strong impression.
Twin brothers born 30 minutes apart in Warri, Nigeria, Arie and Chuko Esiri were raised through a split upbringing — attending boarding school in England from the age of eight and returning to Nigeria during holidays. Having invented stories together since childhood, the two later became creative partners in filmmaking. Their feature debut, This Is My Desire (2020), which they co-produced, wrote, and directed, delicately captured the longing for emigration among Lagos′s working class and premiered at the Berlinale, where it was nominated for Best First Feature. Their second feature, arriving six years later, Clarissa, reimagines Virginia Woolf′s Mrs. Dalloway against a Lagos backdrop, starring Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, and Ayo Edebiri. The film had its world premiere to a rapturous standing ovation at the 2026 Cannes Directors′ Fortnight and was acquired by distributor Neon, establishing the brothers as leading new voices in Nigerian cinema.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
Twin brothers born 30 minutes apart in Warri, Nigeria, Arie and Chuko Esiri were raised through a split upbringing — attending boarding school in England from the age of eight and returning to Nigeria during holidays. Having invented stories together since childhood, the two later became creative partners in filmmaking. Their feature debut, This Is My Desire (2020), which they co-produced, wrote, and directed, delicately captured the longing for emigration among Lagos′s working class and premiered at the Berlinale, where it was nominated for Best First Feature. Their second feature, arriving six years later, Clarissa, reimagines Virginia Woolf′s Mrs. Dalloway against a Lagos backdrop, starring Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, and Ayo Edebiri. The film had its world premiere to a rapturous standing ovation at the 2026 Cannes Directors′ Fortnight and was acquired by distributor Neon, establishing the brothers as leading new voices in Nigerian cinema.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
