Her Daughters' Mother
['Oni ómó emeté]
Written & Directed by Chinazaēkpērē Chukwu
Nigeria | 2026 | 109 Minutes | 1.77:1 | Pidgin English, Urhobo, Bini & English (English Subtitles)
Dedicated to Ogbomo Christiana. In recognition of the love, strength, and presence of mothers whose influence continues to shape the lives of their children.
Logline & Synopsis
After getting married at the age of 16, Ejiro is thrown into a world she is unprepared for, seeking freedom and agency in hopeless places.
After getting married off at the tender age of 16, Ejiro returns home in her 30s, widowed and broken, with two daughters for whom she holds lofty dreams.
She soon finds out that her future is not in her own hands as she is married off to Osato, who promises a better future for her and her kids. However, her inability to provide his needs, which includes a male heir, turns Osato into her nightmare, and Ejiro soon finds herself craving for a freedom that only felt possible when she was a child.
Director's Statement
"It's intended to feel like a juxtaposition of 'The Joys of Motherhood' by Buchi Emecheta and 'Stay With Me' by Ayobami Adebayo. It reaches deep into the rights of women, how their lives are decided for them until the end, first by their families/spouses and finally by their kids."
I have always wondered if my ability to make liberty-based choices as a woman would have been limited if I had been born in another time or into a different economic reality. Time, however, has shown me that I may have just gotten lucky, because across generations, cultures, and classes, women's autonomy continues to be negotiated, restricted, and, in many cases, taken away.
Her Daughters' Mother is a story that transcends time, rooted in a reality that persists across societies and has the capacity to penetrate even the most guarded systems. At its core, it explores the quiet, often invisible sacrifices women make, how duty, expectation, and survival can slowly erode personal dreams. Ejiro represents countless women who have had to abandon themselves in order to endure. Her story is not singular; it is collective.
As a filmmaker who leans more towards the artistic, I approached this film through a carefully constructed visual language using deliberate framing, symbolic imagery, and evocative performances, particularly investing in drawing out raw, internal truths from the actors, allowing their performances to carry the emotional weight of the story in an intimate and unfiltered way.
While Her Daughters' Mother is positioned to travel across borders and connect with international audiences, it remains deeply rooted in its Nigerian identity. It is important to me that the film resonates first with the people whose realities it reflects, even as it speaks to a wider global audience.
— Chinazaēkpērē Chukwu
Key Cast
Ejovwoke Obas Olikuntuyi
as EJIRO
Ejiro (33) is a widowed mother of two daughters whose quiet resilience has been forged through years of hardship. Married off at sixteen and stripped of the freedom to choose her own life, she returns to her father's home seeking a fresh start. Faced with an impossible decision, Ejiro sacrifices her own future in the hope of securing a better one for her daughters.
Osas Okonyon
as EJAITA
Ejaita (16) is Ejiro's eldest daughter: a bright, ambitious teenager who dreams of becoming a doctor. Restless and determined to define freedom on her own terms, she struggles against what she sees as her mother's overprotectiveness, unaware of the full weight of the sacrifices being made on her behalf.
Philip Asaya
as OSATO
Osato (43) is a lorry driver who wants a son, but not the responsibilities of marriage. When he encounters Ejiro, a widowed mother desperate to secure a future for her daughters, he sees an opportunity to satisfy both their needs by offering security in exchange for a male heir.
Najite Dede
as AUNTY AKPOBOME
Aunty Akpobome is Ejiro's aunt and the only person who has ever truly tried to fight for her. Having run away in her youth in search of freedom, she has become both Ejiro's protector and her cautionary tale.
Adeoluwa Akintoba
as ESEOSA
Eseosa (17) is a thoughtful, sensitive boy who falls for Ejaita. Sweet, caring, and emotionally perceptive, he is one of the few people who simply tries to understand Ejaita as she is.
Bliss Ajienomwenhi
as MIRIODERE
Miriodere (11-12) is Ejiro's youngest daughter, a chirpy, observant child who catches fragments of the family crisis around her while protected by her age.
Story World & Visual Tone
Story World: The world of the story is the quiet but bustling South-South Nigeria of the mid-2000s, rooted primarily in the Niger Delta and extending into parts of Benin. The film is grounded firmly in realism. Its world feels familiar, lived-in, and unembellished, allowing the characters and their experiences to remain at the centre of the story and making their struggles feel immediate and relatable to the audience.
Tone: Because of the nature of the story, the film is heavily visual, using cinematography to express what the characters—particularly Ejiro—are unable to say. Wide shots place Ejiro within her surroundings, emphasizing her isolation and the loneliness of carrying a life that often feels beyond her control. At other moments, the camera moves intimately close, allowing us to read the words her eyes cannot speak.
The film exists equally between dialogue and visual storytelling. Performances, silences, glances, gestures, and the spaces between characters carry as much narrative weight as the words they speak.
Core Team
Writer & Director: Chinazaēkpērē Chukwu
Director of Photography: Yinka Adegoke
Story Consultant, Creative Producer & Editor: Joshua Tsotso
Co-Producer & Executive Producer: Efosa Ogbomo (One Child Grace Studios)
Producer & Sound Design Consultant: Metong Minwon
Casting Director & Line Producer: Precious Iroagalachi
Technical Specifications
- Genre: Narrative Drama
- Run Time: 01:50:46 (109 Minutes)
- Country of Production: Nigeria
- Filming Location: Benin, Nigeria
- Shot On: Blackmagic Cinema Camera 4K
- Shooting Format: 4K DCI Blackmagic RAW
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (1.77:1)
- Sound: Stereo
- Color: Color
- Languages: Pidgin English, Urhobo, Bini & English
- Subtitles: English
- Release Format: 4K DCP | ProRes (.MOV)
- Completion Date: March 16, 2026
