Best known as a burgeoning diversity-focused producer, Nigerian-born Londoner Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor made her breakthrough in 2019 with “Blue Story,” Rapman’s musical crime drama that broke box office records, and followed in 2021 with Aml Ameen’s romantic comedy “Boxing Day,” the first entirely Christmas film black from the United Kingdom.
Despite numerous projects in progress via his Joi Productions banner, including “Animol”. Gharoro-Akpojotor, directorial debut of Emmy-nominated “Adolescence” star Ashley Walter, has now taken her turn in the director’s chair on “Dreamers,” which she also wrote.
The film, which premiered in London and has just had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, is a queer romance set in a British immigration center and follows two Nigerian asylum seekers who find love while fighting the system and dreaming of a new life beyond confinement. As Gharoro-Akpojotor – who herself sought asylum due to her sexuality – notes – “Dreamers” is a deeply personal connection. It will also arrive in UK and Irish cinemas in December, with We Are Parable having acquired the rights.
Talk to Varietythe filmmaker talks about moving from producer to director, making films that seem commercial but ask audiences “difficult questions”, and the film she’s producing which she describes as a London version of ‘The Goonies’, this time set in Hackney.
Where do “Dreamers” come from? I understand there is a personal connection?
It’s loosely based on my own life. I was also seeking asylum because of my sexuality. And for me, when I was going through that process, I just remember at that point, you were really stripped of who you were. So I wanted to tell a story about real women and their relationships. And for me, it was my friends who really kept me going. So I also wanted to do something about that and point out the ridiculousness of the system. The rules have changed now, but back then, when I was 25, you had to prove you were gay. And it’s like, how do you prove that you’re gay? What does this mean or what does it look like?
I feel like every film about immigration comes out at a particularly poignant time, but right now, given what’s happening in the US, UK and around the world, it couldn’t be more important.
I think you’re right, now more than ever. Every time I watch the news in any form, it’s never about the immigrants themselves. This concerns everyone. It’s about hatred towards them. It is the government that makes these rules and policies. This movie is supposed to be about a woman who got away with it. This is his story of what was happening to him. And we never talk about that part of things. It’s about humanizing people by reminding them that immigrants are people too.
It’s easy for people to hate immigration, because when Trump says something like they’re all criminals and they’re all rapists, you just think, oh, that’s a big group of criminals that came upon them, and now they’re here and they’re raping our women. it’s a language you use to collectivize people.
“Dreamers”
So what made you want to direct in “Dreamers” for the first time?
Because it’s so personal to me. It sounds cheesy, but I really felt a calling to tell this story. I think that even with the films that I produce, they are all part of me. I really see myself in all these stories. And part of the reason Joi Productions started was because, selfishly, I wanted to see myself on screen. I want to see black lesbians, immigrants, women. I want to see people who look like me, people who love like me, people who have lived my life. I think there is a lack of diversity in diversity and by that I mean there is a lack of breadth in how diverse we are allowed to be. Obviously we’ve made films about immigration before, but for me it felt like it was a love story set in an immigration center.
After making your directorial debut, do you plan to do more?
Yes, and there is one in particular. I chose a book as a producer called “Ordinary People” by Diana Evans. I really like the book. And then I was like, actually, I think I want to direct this one. So I gave it to Emily [Morgan, producer]. She read it and said, yes, I’m on board. So we’re doing that one, but I’m not writing it. Marissa Lestrade is. But this will be my second feature film. I’m also doing a queer romantic comedy. It was like, oh my God, “Dreamers” was sad, we need to do something happy! It will star Aiysha Hart, who was also in “Dreamers,” and it will be about a Saudi family and a Nigerian family getting a little married. The sisters must keep the marriage from falling apart and in the midst of it, they fall in love.
So, are you keeping your producer hat on or are you taking it off for now as you focus on directing?
Oh no, I’m just trying to be an overachiever!
What do you have coming?
I’m doing Ashley Walters’ debut album, “Animol.” We locked the photo and it is absolutely stunning. I think when it comes out, people will be pleasantly surprised. And I think people will look at Ashley in a very different way than the work he’s done as an actor. It’s honestly such a beautiful film.
Is there a direct line connecting everything you do at Joi?
Originally, the company was more: black, queer and feminine. But I will say that in all the projects that we do, we always call on the public to take on a challenge. There is a kind of social change. Whether it’s “Dreamers” and immigration or “Animol”, which challenges our view of young delinquents. And we’re working on another film about young black men and mental health. As a business, it’s about how to make films that seem commercial but actually ask difficult questions of the audience.
But we have a fun movie, which is kind of like our version of “The Goonies,” called “Back to the End.” There are these four young teenagers whose estate is about to be taken over, but one of them discovers that his grandfather had a hidden treasure for his grandmother. So they embark on this epic journey through Hackney, all while being chased by these shady guys. It’s a funny young movie, but again, it’s really about how we’ve failed communities for, I guess, money. And we also have a creature horror about – and this sounds crazy – a worm that makes people racist. It’s based on a fairy tale and the idea is that there’s this little worm that works its way into the pipes and the water system and feeds on people’s hatred.
Amazing. I’m sold. What stage are these films at?
The worm one, we’re going to see a director, and then the Goonies one, it’s currently being written. But they are all from the BFI, the BBC or someone else. So we’re very lucky to be supported in this way by the industry. But like I said, all of our films have some sort of commercial aspect, but they all say and do something. Our little Trojan horse!
