By Testimony Okeyode
The trailer for Damilola Orimogunje’s Dear Ajayi has been released ahead of the film’s historic world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.
Dear Ajayi is the first Nigerian production selected to compete in Giornate degil Autori, an independent section held alongside the festival. Its world premiere is scheduled for September 10, 2026, during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
Set in southwestern Nigeria in the late 1990s, the film follows two estranged sisters, Ade and Titi Ajayi, who are forced to live together while caring for their paralysed mother.
Ade is a devout Christian and the family’s breadwinner, while Titi is an independent aspiring singer. Through contrasting lives, the film explores grief, faith, ambition, and the often-unspoken burdens carried by Nigerian women.
Bimbo Akintola and Tosin Adeyemi lead the cast as sisters. The cast also includes William Benson, Uzoamaka Power, Lanre Hassan, Idowu Philips and Antar Laniyan.
Orimogunje wrote and directed the film. He also produced alongside Ajah Enene-Orimogunje and Bose Oshin under his Lagos-based banner, 2O9INE Films.
The Nigeria-Germany collaboration, produced by 2O9INE Films, is a co-production with Mayana Films, Depth and Optics Productions and Zynox Productions. Italian agency Luminalia is handling international sales.
Dear Ajayi is Orimogunje’s second film following his 2020 debut, For Maria Ebun Pataki. The film premiered at Film Africa in London, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
It subsequently streamed on Netflix and earned six nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Its editor, Tunde Apalowo, also won Best Picture Editor at the eighth Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards in 2022.
Following its Venice premiere, Dear Ajayi is scheduled to open in Nigerian cinemas on Friday, November 13, 2026.
Featured Image: Still From Dear Ajayi. Courtesy of 2O9INE Films/Giornate degil Autori.
