Love in Seclusion, a film by Nigerian writer Clementina Ojie and director Orire Nwani, is one of 96 projects selected for funding in the fourth round of the US-based NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music & Theatre this year.

The film grant is facilitated by the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment (MOME) in New York, in partnership with the New York Foundation for the Arts, and is aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of women and women-identifying artists in film, television, theatre and music.

Love in Seclusion was selected as one of four feature films in this year’s fiction category. Set during the pandemic, it follows a young Lagos wife (played by Tope Olowoniyan) who is desperate to take advantage of quarantine and conceive her first child, unaware that her husband has no intention of having children.

The film is produced by Josh Olaoluwa of Lagos-based Conceptified Media and also stars Inem King, Olanrewaju Ayanwale, Jaybo Charles and Anthonia Okojie.

Nwani said: “Love in Seclusion is on one of our slates from 2022; we almost didn’t make the film but kept pushing the dates. The budget kept on going up every morning, literally, until one day we said if we don’t make this film now, we may never do it. Once we decided on making the film, everything aligned.

“Now, a project we almost never made wins at the New York City Women’s Fund among 1,103 applications. Perfection is sometimes a mirage, it is a thief of time, it can even get in the way of greatness. That project you may never make may just be that project you need to make.”

For 2023, the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music & Theatre awarded a total of US$7.5m to 342 projects in film, theatre, shorts, music, web series and documentaries that reflect the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.

tagged in: Clementina Ojie, Love in Seclusion, NYC Women’s Fund for Media Music & Theatre, Orire Nwani