Egúngún (Masquerade)

Egúngún almost feels like two films, which is entirely apt for a piece that wrestles with the contradictions and impositions of competing facets of identity. The plot follows Salewa (Sheila Chiamaka Chukwulozie) as she returns from her home in London to Nigeria, the country of her birth, for her mother’s funeral. In this opening half, the film viscerally adopts Salewa’s perspective, using camerawork and sound design to convey the overwhelming and disorientation sensation of being back in Nigeria. Things settle in the second half when Salewa meets her childhood friend Ebun (Teniola Aladese) and, as they reminisce, the audience comes to understand the reality of their bond.

The narrative thrust of the film may be quite straightforward but the questions around self-identity that occur in various guises throughout Egúngún are anything but. Salewa’s discomfort in her own country, her difficult relationship with her mother, and her history with Ebun are entwined with issues of nationality, class, and sexuality.

Chukwulozie and Aladese have such an easy charm together that their extended scene towards the film’s conclusion, in which they get to just relish being in each other’s company again, is a joy. The characters’ deft avoidance of the palpable tension in the air is perfectly observed, and a moment in which Ebun leans into Salewa after learning of her marriage to a woman in London is at once affectionate and excruciatingly painful. The tenderness and poignancy of this scene almost serve to erase the unease of the early sequences, but on reflection, while the two halves do feel distinct, they complement one another and emphasise their different but important ways of examining Salewa’s experience.

Director, screenplay, editor: Olive Nwosu
Cast: Sheila Chiamaka Chukwulozie, Teniola Aladese
Producer: Alex Polunin
Cinematography: Tom Weir
Music: Matthew Serra
Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Short Film Program)
In English and Yoruba
15 minutes