The Fire and The Moth, a thriller by Nigerian screenwriter and director Taiwo Egunjobi, will receive its world premiere in Paris at the Nollywood Week Film Festival. This year the annual event celebrating Nigerian and African cinema at the French capital will take place from May 7 to 11.
Set at a western border town in Nigeria, Egunjobi’s film is the story of Saba (Tayo Faniran) a smuggler who bites off more than he can chew when he steals a rare Ife bronze head. Soon, his actions pull in a number of persons interested in the artefact, including a relentless arsonist played by Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis.
Acting alongside Faniran and Jean-Louis, are Ini Dima-Okojie, William Benson and others.
In an official statement by the film’s producers, Egunjobi’s latest is described as “an unflinching look at a lawless world, where every decision has deadly consequences”. The film is a UK-Nigeria coproduction featuring a blend of Yoruba, English, and Pidgin English.
Although the specific date of the film’s screening is yet to be made public, when The Fire and the Moth premieres in Paris, it would mark Egunjobi’s second appearance at the Nollywood Week Film Festival. His earlier appearance came in 2021, when his sophomore feature film, All Na Vibes, opened the festival. A year before, his debut feature, In Ibadan, had screened at the Zuma Film Festival in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
Since it began in 2013, Nollywood Week Film Festival has promoted productions from Nigeria, as well as from other African countries and the African Diaspora. Each year, the event showcases feature films, short films, TV series, and animations. Workshops, conferences, and Q&A sessions are also part of the event.
