Home News MAMI WATA by C.J. Obasi at Sundance!

MAMI WATA by C.J. Obasi at Sundance!

The feature film developed with LIM awarded at the US festival in January 2023.

Published 16/12/2022

MAMI WATA by C.J. Obasi had its World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January 2023. It was awarded with the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Cinematography (for Lílis Soares).

MAMI WATA is the first film by a Nigerian-based filmmaker to be showcased at the festival. Congrats C.J., we are very happy for you, what an achievement!

C.J. took part in LIM | Less is More for the development of this feature film in the framework of Le Groupe Ouest & Ouaga Film Lab partnership.

About his experience at LIM...

We are so very thrilled about this selection. It is such a great honour and honestly, it feels surreal. You put in the work and hope for the best, and then when recognition comes, it is both remarkable and very fulfilling. It is also a challenge to keep raising the bar and inspiring others to do the same.

C.J. Obasi and Oge Obasi

for Punch Newspapers

More info

Mami Wata

A feature film by C.J. Obasi

“Nigerian filmmaker CJ ‘Fiery’ Obasi says it’s a “dream” for his third feature Mami Wata to premiere at Sundance – which is fitting because the idea for the film came to him in a dream-like vision in 2016.”
— ScreenDaily

“A rich, expressionist parable, if there was a more gorgeous looking film at Sundance this year, I didn’t see it.”
— CNN entertainment

““Mami Wata” is a historical first for Sundance. It’s the first homegrown Nigerian film to debut at the festival, the culmination of a five-year process that’s taken Obasi and his wife/producer Oge Obasi to workshops and labs around Africa and Europe, including a slot at Final Cut in Venice in 2021. The extra time spent developing the film pays off on screen: From its opening title design to the last notes of Tunde Jegede’s score, “Mami Wata” is a work of art.”
— IndieWire