Neon has acquired worldwide rights to twin filmmakers’ Arie and Chuko Esiri’s “Clarissa.”
Shot on 35mm film in Lagos and Delta State, Nigeria, the film stars Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda”), David Oyelowo (“Selma”), India Amarteifio (“Queen Charlotte”), Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”) and Toheeb Jimoh (“Ted Lasso”, “Industry”).
Neon will release the film theatrically in the United States, and Neon International will represent the film for foreign sales.
“Clarissa” is a modern reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway,” in which society woman Clarissa (Okonedo) prepares to host a party at her home in Lagos, Nigeria, where she will unexpectedly encounter once-intimate friends from her youth. As the group reflects on their shared past over the course of a single night, memories of their intricate relationships, passionate love, hidden desires and lost aspirations give rise to bittersweet reckoning.
The screenplay was written by Chuko Esiri, and the film is jointly directed and produced by Arie and Chuko alongside producers Theresa Park for Per Capita Productions and Nicholas Weinstock for Invention Studios. Nina Gold and Thomas Bassett are co-producers, and executive producers include Sophie Okonedo, Dolly Omodolapo Kola-Balogun, Osahon Okunbo and Jason Reif.
The Esiri’s debut feature “Eyimofe (This Is My Desire”) — which they produced, wrote and directed — went on to win five African Movie Academy Awards. The film was released by Janus Films and is now part of the Criterion Collection.
Production financing for filming in Nigeria was provided entirely by Africa-based Afreximbank’s CANEX Creations Inc. (CANEX).
The acquisition and distribution deal was negotiated by Neon’s director of acquisitions, development & production Kate Gondwe and UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
Neon’s slate of upcoming releases include Oliver Laxe’s “Sirat,” Matt Johnson’s “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” and Baz Luhrmann’s “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.”
English (US) ·