Filmmaker Ema Edosio Deelen has unveiled the official trailer for her upcoming feature When Nigeria Happens, sharing it on her official X (formerly Twitter) account earlier today.

When Nigeria Happens follows a group of misfit dancers: Fagbo, Pokko, Lighter, Movement, Colos, and Poppy, who struggle to stay afloat in a city that offers them little security or recognition. Their bond is tested when Fagbo’s mother becomes critically ill, forcing him to seek funds and confront the limits of their shared dreams and identities. The narrative appears to lean into movement, and expression, using dance as both a survival language and a form of resistance to explore how the characters navigate this crisis.

The film reportedly runs 80 minutes and was shot entirely in Lagos on a tight budget of 100,000 US dollars. Trailer footage and production notes hint at a visual style that blends documentary realism with expressive movement, offering glimpses of dance not just as performance, but potentially as a metaphor for coping and communication in Nigeria’s busiest city.

The Vision Behind the Work

Ema Edosio is no stranger to raw, human-centred filmmaking. A trained cinematographer and self-taught director, she previously made waves with her 2018 feature debut Kasala!, a coming-of-age comedy that travelled to more than 30 international festivals and won nine awards. She holds training credentials from the New York Film Academy and the Motion Pictures Institute of Michigan, and has worked across formats for EbonyLife TV, Ndani TV, and the BBC. In 2014, she was named Film and Television Director of the Year.

For When Nigeria Happens, Edosio collaborated with Nigerian contemporary dance pioneer Qudus Onikeku and his Lagos-based QDance Company. Their creative partnership grounds the film’s physical language in authentic local movement. In this film, movement speaks volumes, replacing exposition with body, rhythm, and repetition.

The Cast and Crew

The film features performances from Alex Usifo, Seun Ajayi, Jide Kene Achufusi, and breakout dancer Abella Dominic, also known as DomDom. Edosio has praised her cast and crew for their devotion and resilience, describing the set as a family. That energy, she says, is what made it possible to shoot a film of this scale under challenging conditions.

In interviews, she has stressed the importance of emotional integrity over polish, saying that

“cinema should not only reflect what we see but also how we feel especially in a place like Nigeria, where survival often happens quietly.”

Locarno Premiere and Festival Recognition

When Nigeria Happens will have its world premiere in August 2025 as the official opening film for the Open Doors section of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. This marks the first time a Nigerian contemporary dance film has been selected to open the section, which is known for spotlighting bold cinema from underrepresented regions.

This selection places the film on an international platform where it may gain further recognition in arthouse and independent film circles. No Nigerian release date has been confirmed yet, though wider distribution plans are expected to follow its festival run.

Why This Matters

While the film itself has yet to be publicly screened, the trailer and the statements from Edosio indicate a project that embraces stillness, movement, and emotional subtlety. It signals an interest in storytelling that leans away from mainstream convention, possibly favouring tone and atmosphere

At a time when Nollywood is diversifying, When Nigeria Happens feels timely and necessary. It offers a cinematic counterpoint, a quiet protest and a tender portrait of young Nigerians navigating grief, poverty, and the search for identity through art. Rather than rely on heavy dialogue or dramatic confrontation, the film favours introspection and physical storytelling.

If the finished film reflects what the trailer suggests, When Nigeria Happens may represent a deliberate contribution to the growing call for range and nuance in Nigerian cinema. It invites more room for craft, space, risk, and voice. For Edosio, and for a new generation of filmmakers and dancers, it is also a statement: that the soft can be powerful, and the quiet can be heard.

See the trailer below!