Baba Segi's Wives heads to Toronto for world premiere
Four wives, one husband and a buried secret are headed for Toronto. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives will have its world premiere in the Centrepiece strand at the Toronto International Film Festival, Variety reported. It is the fifth official Toronto selection for EbonyLife Films, the Lagos-based company behind the production.
The film adapts Lola Shoneyin's 2010 debut novel of the same name, a book later adapted for the stage. TIFF's listing describes it as a drama that mixes humour from Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry, with tenderness, and says it explores infertility, gendered inheritance and changing power inside a polygamous household, TIFF. It runs 119 minutes. Dialogue is in Yoruba and English.
Daniel Oriahi directs. He first brought Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo, an action comedy also produced by EbonyLife, to Toronto 10 years earlier. His 2024 thriller The Weekend played in the Midnight strand at the Tribeca Film Festival, and he has directed episodes of EbonyLife's Netflix series Blood Sisters and the 13-episode drama Hallelujah.
The cast is led by Odunlade Adekola, Iyabo Ojo, Mercy Aigbe, Bimbo Ademoye and Omowunmi Dada. The supporting cast includes Nkechi Blessing, Bimbo Manuel, Bisola Aiyeola, Olarotimi Fakunle, Constance Olatunde and Maleek Sanni.
EbonyLife Films produces in partnership with Genesis Media Group, Nile Media Entertainment Group, Silverbird Group and Flytime Entertainment, Variety reported. After Toronto, the film will play in the Journey strand at the BFI London Film Festival. It will then open in cinemas across Nigeria in December. That December opening will be EbonyLife's first theatre release since 2019.
The premiere follows a long streaming run. Netflix signed a multi-title pact with Mo Abudu's EbonyLife outfit in 2020 to create two original series, Variety reported at the time. EbonyLife's first film Fifty was licensed to Netflix in 2015, and the company released a slate of 10 features and series on the service between 2019 and 2026. Variety also named the new film among 20 international titles to track at TIFF 2026.
Festival audiences can catch it twice in Toronto. TIFF lists screenings on Friday 11 at 9:00 PM and Sunday 13 at 2:45 PM. Founder Mo Abudu will also join Moses Babatope of Nile Media Entertainment Group for a session on the Nigerian film industry at the inaugural TIFF market.
What makes this stand out is the route. A festival launch in Toronto and London, then a homecoming in Nigerian cinemas, puts the story back in front of local audiences first.
