Films

A contemporary reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa traces a high-society Nigerian woman as she unexpectedly encounters friends from her youth. As she is reminded of her past, the married Clarissa (Sophie Okonedo, also in Mouse) begins to reminisce about the unresolved, lingering teenage romance she had with a promising poet (Toheeb Jimoh and David Oyelowo) and embarks on a deeply emotional journey of yearning and exploration.

Twin directors Arie and Chuko Esiri intersect Clarissa’s struggle with the story of Septimus (Fortune Nwafor), a soldier suffering from PTSD triggered by the Boko Haram insurgency. By interweaving their narratives, Clarissa creates an elaborate, mesmerizing tapestry of memory, class struggle, and the passing of time.  

Discussion with screenwriter and co-director Chuko Esiri (Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting).

“Quietly revolutionary in its mining of new ideas in an old text.”
-Tomris Laffly, Elle

“A seductively mysterious, languorous, melancholy drama with commanding performances.”
-Peter Bradshaw, Guardian