Baba Segi's Wives, Lady and Clarissa: three Nigerian films at the 2026 London Film Festival
From Sundance and Cannes to Toronto and London, three very different Nigerian films have had the festival year of their lives. Here is where to see them next.
Three Nigerian features were in the line-up of the BFI London Film Festival, which ran from 7 to 18 October: EbonyLife's The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, Olive Nwosu's Lady and the Esiri twins' Clarissa. London capped a year that took Nigerian stories to Sundance, Cannes and Toronto, and all three are now heading for cinemas, starting with Baba Segi in Nigeria on 4 December.
Photo: Danielle G. Campbell — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives
Lola Shoneyin's 2010 novel, already staged twice in London, at the Arcola Theatre, is now a film. Daniel Oriahi directs from Adze Ugah's script, with Odunlade Adekola as Baba Segi, a man with three wives and seven children whose house is turned upside down when he marries a fourth, a young graduate named Bolanle.
The supporting cast is a roll call of Nollywood: Iyabo Ojo, Mercy Aigbe, Bimbo Ademoye, Omowunmi Dada, Shaffy Bello and Lateef Adedimeji among them. Toronto picked it for its Centrepiece programme, and Mo Abudu, who produced it through EbonyLife and cast it herself, called the selection an "incredible honour" for Nigerian storytelling. It is played mostly in Yoruba, with subtitles, and dubbed versions are planned.
Lady
Lady is the first feature from Olive Nwosu, a Lagos-born writer and director based in London. Its heroine is one of the few women driving a cab in Lagos, saving up to leave, until a childhood friend reappears and she finds herself driving a group of women through the city's nightlife. What grows between them is an unlikely sisterhood.
In January it won the Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble in Sundance's World Cinema Dramatic Competition, a prize for a cast led by Jessica Gabriel's Ujah with Amanda Oruh and Tinuade Jemiseye. Berlin's Panorama followed, then London's first feature competition. On 14 October Nwosu was named one of four winners of the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards, which come with £20,000 each.
A film full of depth and texture and with a rhythm all its own.
The Sundance jury, on Lady
Clarissa
Twin brothers Chuko and Arie Esiri, who broke through with Eyimofe, have moved Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway to present-day Lagos. Over a single day, a society hostess played by Sophie Okonedo meets again the friends and lovers of her youth; India Amarteifio plays her younger self, with David Oyelowo and Ayo Edebiri alongside.
It opened at Cannes in the Directors' Fortnight in May, played Toronto and New York, and came to London this month before NEON's release in American cinemas.
Where to see them
- The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives: cinemas across Nigeria from 4 December 2026
- Clarissa: a limited release in US cinemas from 11 December 2026, through NEON
- Lady: UK and Irish cinemas in 2027, through Metis Films
Between them they cover a Yoruba-language family drama from a best-selling novel, an intimate debut told from a Lagos cab and an English-language literary adaptation: a fair picture of how wide Nigerian cinema's range has become.
Frequently asked questions
When is The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives in cinemas?
It opens in cinemas across Nigeria on 4 December 2026, after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and a screening at the BFI London Film Festival.
Is Baba Segi's Wives based on a book?
Yes. It is adapted from Lola Shoneyin's 2010 novel The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, directed by Daniel Oriahi with Odunlade Adekola as Baba Segi.
What award did Lady win at Sundance?
The Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Who is in Clarissa?
Sophie Okonedo plays Clarissa, with India Amarteifio as her younger self, alongside David Oyelowo and Ayo Edebiri. Arie and Chuko Esiri directed it.
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