Arie Esiri and Nigerian co-director and screenwriter Chuko Esiri 3

Nigerian co-director Arie Esiri (R) and Nigerian co-director and screenwriter Chuko Esiri pose for a portrait session on the sidelines of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 17, 2026. (Photo by JULIE SEBADELHA / AFP)

The Lagos of Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Cannes Film Festival hit “Clarissa” is not one that has ever been seen on the big screen. The lives, loves, petty snobberies and private torments of some of Nigeria’s most privileged people would not seem the stuff to solicit much sympathy in a megacity where the rich float over so much human misery.