This is installment #1 of Shadow And Act’s #ShortFilmShoutout series.

Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo’s short film Bariga Sugar centers on Ese, a reclusive 8-year-old girl living in Bariga Sugar, a brothel located in Bariga, Lagos. Ese’s mother, Tina, is one of Bariga Sugar’s working women. After 10-year-old Jamil and his mother, Hanatu, move into the brothel, Ese and Jamil begin an unlikely friendship.

This short film screened at both the Africa International Film Festival and Lights, Camera, Africa!!! Nigerian-born Chukwuogo attended the University of Texas at Austin before graduating from the New York Film Academy. A few years back, she spoke to Konbini about the film, saying, “I was inspired by a fascinating Oscar-winning documentary called Born In Brothels and exploring the power/freedom of friendship in a stifling environment.”

Clocking in at just over 21 minutes, Bariga Sugar stars Tina Mba, Gregory Ojefua, Lucy Ameh, Halimat Olarewaju, Tunde Azeez and Blessing Samuel. Chukwuogo directs and produced the short, along with producer Ikenna Edmund Okah.

Watch the film below:

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Photo: Bariga Sugar

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