It’s 6:59 pm on a Sunday evening when Mo Abudu, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Nse Ikpe-Etim, and Oris Erhuero walks into the EbonyLife Place, a crowd of guest surrounds them, the subtle echoes of greetings and sweet cheek-pegs reels in. The lights from provoking paparazzi follow suit, and the evening is so vibrant though the sound systems playing afro beats; Ayra Starr’s voice fills in the room.
For a while now, there has been so much elation surrounding the premiere of EbonyLife’s movie “A Sunday Affair” so it didn’t come as a surprise when guests including film directors, producers, and actors arrived at Victoria Island, an affluent business center in Lagos, Nigeria.
With the dress theme being “Netflix and Chill in your Valentine’s pyjamas” the red carpet was gun blazing, experimental and sassy— from red-feathered ruffles to late-night lingerie cutouts to robe suits and flowing capes. But for the stars, it was quite impressive. Mo Abudu wore a custom Banke-kuku corseted-short, a peacock paired with thigh-high socks. Nse Ikpe-Etim took it simple and made sure the accessories did the talking, Dakore Egbuson-Akande went with a more feminine silhouette in an Ejiro Tafiri ralia dress and a peacock kimono, while Oris Erhuero dazzled in flowing pants and a suit robe.
“A Sunday Affair”— an erratic movie with perfectly crafted dialogues— dives into the story of two longtime best friends who find themselves in a complicated love triangle. The film unveils a flashback in 1999 showing two young women expressing an undying promise to always cherish each other throughout their lives and in a quick hug, it’s 2023 at a wedding. Uche (played by Nse Ikpe- Etim) finds herself in an ecstatic state with Sunday (played by Oris Erhuero). It only gets interesting when they are both the siblings of the bride and groom.
“A Sunday Affair is an original idea that has been playing around in my head for nearly 10 years,” says Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Media and executive producer of the film. “It has been written and rewritten by a number of writers, each time adding a layer of richness to the story. Walter Taylaur has done an amazing job directing this movie and our actors have given us such strong performances all through.”
For Nse Ikpe-Etim, seeing the script was love at first sight. “I wasn’t quite sure how I’d feel so I let the character lead me in her own shoes. I did struggle with accepting the path Uche chose and I came to understand that with love, loyalty plays a bigger part. Uche chose me, so in being true to her choices, I embraced her fears, her truths and everything else she stood for and that is how she came to life,” she tells ESSENCE
One of the best things about the movie is its attempt at capturing vulnerability and appropriating power to it as seen in the character of Toyin, Dakore Egbuson-Akande tells us playing Toyin was really calm for her. “I had to subdue my feminine instinct to play her and as an actor, that’s what you do, you want to be challenged. I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and it has to get exciting. But I love that I learned that love could be messy, that its expectations could be false and it’s important for the younger generation to learn that.”
For producer Heidi Uys, the journey has been blissful. “After a decade of crafting, we finally had a story we could so vividly see. Mo Abudu knew exactly whom she wanted to make this film with. Our casting decisions were precise and deliberate with power duo Dakore Akande-Egbuson and Nse Ikpe-Etim, who both starred in our first feature ‘Fifty’ released 8 years ago, adding Oris Erhuero, with his international stature and action-man good looks. We decided on Walter Taylaur to direct, knowing that he would bring a great tension line with his penchant for films of a darker thriller nature.” she says.
For a romcom like this, being both entertaining and educational is a charming one and it really did teach Walter Taylaur the power of taking suggestions. “I learned that positive results are derived from calmness and an ability to listen attentively and sometimes take on board suggestions from Cast & Crew members. The film is a deeply insightful, yet playful Nigerian spin to the questions about the conventional dynamics of love, present in every culture,” he says.
“I’m so glad to have told a story, playing Sunday really made me thankful to my wife, my children,” Oris tells ESSENCE