After June 9 world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, Daniel Oriahi’s The Weekend will start a run across cinema halls in Nigeria from Friday, August 30.
The Weekend tells a story about young couple Nikya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and Luke (Bucci Franklin). After a period of dating, Nikya convinces Luke to take her to his family. They set out to go visiting one weekend.
In an interview with Variety, Daniel Oriahi, who replaced Tolu Ajayi as director, said the film explores “the messy inner workings of relationships: how and why partners hold back, and how their secrets—though rarely quite as macabre as in “The Weekend”—often lead to destructive results.”
“I wanted to tell stories about the intricacies of relationships, family dynamics, trauma, the dysfunction that can happen sometimes in a family dynamic, and how that affects people psychologically,” he said.
Written by Egbemawei Dimiyei Sammy, Vanessa Kanu, and Freddie O. Anyaegbunam Jr., the movie is produced by Uche Okocha of Trino Studios and executively produced by Babatunwa Aderinokun.
Alongside leads Aniunoh and Franklin, the film features Ekpenyong Bassey Inyang, Meg Otanwa, Gloria Anozie-Young, and Damilola Ogunsi. Watch the teaser above.
Oriahi’s filmography includes Misfit and Sylvia. His breakout picture Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.