00:00At the Cannes Film Festival, Nigerian twin filmmaker Ari Esiri and Chuku Esiri are drawing a claim for Carissa, a
00:09post-colonial adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway.
00:11Suddenly, as the film explores the lives and private struggles of Nigeria's wealthy elites against a backdrop of deep inequality
00:20and national tension.
00:21In any underdeveloped nation, what happens is the middle disappears. And so it's basically two classes. So it's that kind
00:31of thing. And it ebbs and flows in just in sense of like, you know, what the currency is doing.
00:39And so people's net worths just like, you know, crash and rise up. And like it's just, it's, yeah.
00:46The film also examines the country's endearing divisions. Esiri describes Nigeria as a colonial constructs still grappling with questions about
00:56power and unity.
00:58It's Nigeria is an idea as a concept is like a colonial idea, colonial concept. But in many ways, it
01:03just formalized what was already happening. But the minute you add those structures in, it's like, well, where is power
01:10lying? Where is power sitting? And it's, you know, do we, do we become two countries? Do we stay as
01:16one country?
01:16These are just constant debates and constant and things we're constantly thinking about? Yeah, especially when like you have the
01:23insurgency, which is something that really, really affects northern Nigeria and like in the south and in Lagos, like it
01:30doesn't touch you like at all.
01:33A central storyline follows a soldier returning from the insurgency. In northern Nigeria, a conflict that Esiri notes feels distanced
01:42to many in the south.
01:44It's no different to like being in England and seeing like the war in Iraq or the war. It's like,
01:48it's, it's a thing that's happening there. But it's, you know, these are your neighbors. It's like happening in your
01:54country. So.
01:56Critics at Cannes have praised Carissa for its nuanced storytelling and powerful performances marking another milestone for the growing global
02:06influence of Nigerian cinema.
02:09Critics at Cannes have praised Carissa for its 100 or her most of the growing global influence of Nigerian cinema.
02:10Critics at Cannes have praised Carissa for its unlocking history and has praised Carissa for its gratitude to the Jamaican
02:10in the London War.
02:10Costa Rica is a racist and valued community on the other side of the world.
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