After eight years in development, principal photography for Damilola Orimogunje’s sophomore feature, Dear Ajayi, has officially begun. The film, which is Orimogunje’s highly anticipated follow-up to his heart-wrenching debut, For Maria Ebun Pataki—an emotional portrayal of a woman (played by Meg Otanwa) struggling with postpartum depression—is set to be shot in Ibadan.

Describing the film, Orimogunje said, “This is a film about what is left unsaid—about women who stand on opposite sides of belief and freedom, yet are bound by blood, silence, and duty. I’ve lived with this story for years, and it’s time to let it speak.” In a tweet about the film on X (formerly known as Twitter), he wrote, “8 years in the making. We walk so we can fly. Principal photography of Dear Ajayi begins.”

Set in the 1990s in southwestern Nigeria, Dear Ajayi follows the reunion of two estranged sisters (played by Bimbo Akintola and Tosin Adeyemi) who are forced to confront old wounds and unspoken truths after the death of their father and their mother’s sudden illness. The film explores themes of duty, silence, and womanhood.

The cast includes William Benson, Lanre Hassan, Uzoamaka Power, Michelle Dede, Antar Laniyan, Tope Tedela, Chioma Omeruah, Baaj Adebule, Idowu Philips, and Kalu Ikeagwu.

While still in development, the film was selected for the Ouaga Film Lab in 2022, where it won three awards: the Sud Écriture Award, the Groupe Ouest Award, and the World Cinema Fund – Audience Design Award. Dear Ajayi was also part of the Strategic Audience Design program at the Berlinale and participated in Nouveau Marché, a film marketplace in Montreal, Canada.

The film will be produced under 2o9ine Films by Orimogunje and Bose Oshin, with Depth and Optics Productions serving as co-producers. Nigerian cinematographer K.C. Obiajulu will handle the cinematography. It is expected to be released in 2026.