A U.K.-Nigerian-Hong Kong romantic comedy is taking shape at the Cannes Film Market, where My Nigerian Fiancé was unveiled with A13 Films founder Chidozie Christian Ahaiwe and U.K.-based Hong Kong creative Hiu Man Chan attached as executive producers. The project is being developed as a cross-cultural collaboration spanning Nigeria, the U.K. and Hong Kong.
The story follows a successful London-based Nigerian man who enlists an Asian dancer to pose as his fiancé at a family anniversary celebration in Lagos. As 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.
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“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.
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“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 came together through conversations at the Hong Kong Pavilion during the Cannes Film Market and later at Hong Kong cinema night. My Nigerian Fiancé is now in development, with casting expected later this year.
