"Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor had a little wobble when she stepped on to the stage after the screening of her debut feature, Dreamers, at the London film festival. The Nigerian-British director's film is a love story set in an immigration detention centre. It had already premiered in Berlin earlier this year. But showing her semi-autobiographical film to a home crowd in London felt exposing. I suddenly had this feeling: Oh my God, everyone can see me. Everyone knows everything about me. She laughs."
"It tells the story of Isio (Ronke Adekoluejo), a Nigerian woman being held at removal centre while the Home Office decides whether or not it believes that she is who she says she is a lesbian whose life would be danger if she were sent back to Nigeria. I always say it's loosely based on my life, Gharoro-Akpojotor says. She herself she did not experience the trauma that is her character's painful backstory."
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor premiered her debut feature Dreamers at the London film festival after an earlier Berlin debut. Dreamers is set in an immigration detention centre and follows Isio, a Nigerian woman held while the Home Office assesses her claim that she is a lesbian at risk if returned to Nigeria. The film is loosely based on Gharoro-Akpojotor's experience seeking asylum in the UK aged 25. Gharoro-Akpojotor founded Joi Productions to make films telling black, female and gay stories and has producing credits including Blue Story and Boxing Day. She narrowly avoided detention while her application was processed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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