A romantic comedy spanning Nigeria, the U.K. and Hong Kong was unveiled at the Cannes Film Market, with A13 Films founder Chidozie Christian Ahaiwe and U.K.-based Hong Kong creative Hiu Man Chan attached as executive producers on “My Nigerian Fiancé.”
The project follows a successful London-based Nigerian man who enlists an Asian dancer to pose as his fiancé at a family anniversary celebration in Lagos. When the arrangement gives way to genuine feeling, both characters are forced to confront family pressure, ambition and identity. The film will draw on Nigerian music and fashion throughout.
“This is a rare opportunity to take a global relatable romantic comedy and reinterpret it through the richness, humor, complexity, and emotional energy of both Nigerian and British culture,” Ahaiwe tells Variety. “The themes of love, identity, family pressure, migration, and cultural collision are deeply universal, but we also believe there’s something fresh, commercially exciting, and globally relevant about telling this story from both a Nigerian and U.K. perspective.”
Chan is also executive-producing a U.K. remake of the Hong Kong romance “My Indian Boyfriend: The Golden Mile” – a project that provided the creative impetus for “My Nigerian Fiancé,” though the two films tell different stories.
“Nigeria has a rising market and the U.K.’s screen industry has been trying to tap into new opportunities arise, us included,” Chan tells Variety. “It seems like my latest portfolio could potentially become a romantic trilogy, after the ‘Boyfriend,’ now the ‘Fiancé,’ and the third one will certainly be called ‘My Husband,’ with a description to be decided in due course. Cinema in my opinion, is still the best space to explore love. We need to do all we can to preserve this magical space for the young generations to come.”
The collaboration took shape during conversations at the Hong Kong Pavilion at the Cannes Film Market and later at Hong Kong cinema night. A13 Films is also developing “G-Boyz,” an investigative documentary thriller developed alongside producer Matthew Torne that examines Nigeria’s internet fraud economy. “My Nigerian Fiancé” is now in development, with casting expected later this year.
