Damilola Orimogunje

EARLY LIFE

Damilola Orimogunje has stated that he has lived most of his life in Lagos and draws inspiration from middle-class family experiences. He studied Mass Communication at Caleb University in Lagos. His interest in storytelling began early; a university radio-script assignment impressed a lecturer and encouraged him to pursue writing. He initially considered law but entered media through mass communication.

CAREER

After graduating, Orimogunje worked as a writer and content producer with outlets including Lagos Television, Royal Roots, MNET Africa (Africa Magic), and FilmOne. He wrote for television shows such as Hustle and Flatmates. In 2014, he won the United Nations-sponsored Homevida Short Script competition. He began directing short films around 2016. Notable shorts include Family (2016), Mo (2017; Best Nollywood Short Film at Real Time Film Festival), Losing My Religion (2018; adapted from a short story by Nike Campbell-Fatoki), and Heaven Baby (2020). His short films have screened at dozens of festivals (reports cite over 40–50, with some later figures higher), including Film Africa, Luxor African Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, and others, earning awards for Best Short and related categories. Themes frequently explore love, betrayal, depression, death, faith, and social issues. He cites influences such as Wong Kar-Wai and Ingmar Bergman. His debut feature, For Maria Ebun Pataki (2020), is a drama about postpartum depression. It premiered at Film Africa in London, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and received six nominations at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), including for writing and directing. The film later found success on Netflix Nigeria. As a producer, he is credited on All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White (2023; directed by Babatunde Apalowo), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won the Teddy Award for Best Feature. His second feature, Dear Ajayi (written and directed by Orimogunje), is a family drama set in 1990s southwestern Nigeria. It follows two sisters—Ade (a devout Christian and family breadwinner) and Titi (an aspiring singer)—caring for their ailing mother while confronting grief, faith, ambition, and family bonds. The film stars Bimbo Akintola, Tosin Adeyemi, Lanre Hassan, William Benson, and Antar Laniyan. It is a Nigeria/Germany co-production (2O9INE Films with Mayana Films, Depth & Optics Productions, and others). Dear Ajayi was selected for its world premiere at the 2026 Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) sidebar of the Venice Film Festival—the first Nigerian film in that competition—and world sales were acquired by Italian agency Luminalia. Support and development included World Cinema Fund, Ouaga Film Lab, and other programs. Principal photography began after years in development (reports note the project dates back to around 2017).

PERSONAL LIFE

Orimogunje keeps his personal life relatively private. He has spoken of drawing personal elements into his work (noting that Dear Ajayi contains many stories from his life) and of growing up in a middle-class Lagos environment that informs his interest in domestic and familial themes.

Damilola Orimogunje is regarded as part of a new generation of Nigerian independent filmmakers focused on visually compelling, unconventional, and socially engaged storytelling. He operates under the 2O9INE Films banner and has been profiled in outlets including Sight & Sound, The Guardian, and the BBC. His work prioritizes artistic integrity, intimate domestic narratives, and issues such as mental health and women’s experiences, often with a slow-burning, character-driven approach.