Director: Ema Edosio Delen
Screenplay: Adebayo Oduwole / Ema Edosio
Producers: Nunu Deng / Ema Edosio / Jeff Jacobson
Starring: Abella Domdom Dominic, Ruth El Phygo Felix, Ego Iheanacho, Alex Usifo Omiagbo, Enumah Oliseh, Eze Gift Chinedu, Deborah Aiyegbeni, David Emmanuel
Year: 2025
Country: Nigeria
BBFC Certification: TBC
Duration: 120 mins
This movie screened at the 13th Ake Arts & Book Festival 2025, (i.e. Lagos’ vibrant mini-SXSW-like festival of literature, music, film, and creative cross-pollination) – Ema Edosio’s new dance-drama is a scrappy, urgent, emotionally forthright story about the grind of Nigerian life and the dreams it crushes, often without apology. Told through interpretative dance and anchored by first-time actors, the film follows Fagbo, (Dominic), a young rebel who wants to dance his way out of the rat race, and whose mantra – “don’t let Naija happen to you”, becomes the film’s aching refrain.
What the film lacks in polish, it makes up for in sincerity and rhythmic ambition. Ema and her team – self-funded, multitasking, and clearly determined, craft a world where choreography doubles as emotional language. The dance sequences are the film’s heartbeat: raw, inventive, and often more eloquent than its dialogue. Fagbo’s crew of five, including his girlfriend Pokko, radiate a youthful joie-de-vivre that feels lived-in. Their “shock routine,” shot with guerrilla energy, becomes both their weapon and their undoing.
The film really soars in its multi-layered emotional arc. Fagbo’s struggle to care for his mother, slipping into presenile dementia and mishandled by a broken healthcare system, grounds the film in painful reality. The police extortion, the viral-video opportunity, Pokko’s betrayal, and the fraught meeting with his wealthy but disdainful father all accumulate into a portrait of a country that demands resilience yet often punishes idealism. When Fagbo ends up joining the very police force he once mocked, the film delivers a final gut punch: Naija has happened to him.
One flaw, the film was too long – at times this director’s cut stretches scenes past their emotional peak. A tighter 90-minute version would likely heighten its impact. But the ambition is undeniable, especially given the context shared in the post-screening Q&A with director Ema, writer Oduwole, and breakout lead Dominic, who electrified the audience with a surprise live dance performance.
Ultimately, this is a film made with grit, heart, and creative defiance – a testament to a new generation of Nigerian filmmakers determined to tell their truth, no matter the constraints.
