Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde shares how she brought her directorial debut “Mother’s Love” to life alongside her co-producer and co-writer Tyna Obhiagbon.
Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is a Nollywood icon and living legend who has graced Nigerian cinema for over three decades. Since beginning her acting career as a teenager in the mid-1990s, she has become one of Africa’s most celebrated actresses. Appearing in over 300 films, she’s earned several international recognitions, including a place on Time magazine’s 2013 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Now, she steps behind the camera with her deeply personal directorial debut, “Mother’s Love” — a poignant exploration of family life within a Nigerian home. Drawing from her own experience as a first daughter who held her family together after losing her father at age 12, Omotola crafts an emotionally charged narrative that resonates with authenticity and passion. The film’s powerful storytelling has earned it a prestigious spot at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it premiered in September, joining the select group of Nigerian films to achieve this milestone.
In this exclusive interview, Omotala Jalade-Ekinde and Tyna Obahiagbon, who both co-produced and co-wrote “Mother’s Love”, sit down to share the intimate journey of bringing this deeply personal film to life. The long-time collaborators open up about why this story resonates so profoundly with them and they reveal the difficulties and challenges they navigated to bring this film to life.
What inspired you to make your directorial debut with “Mother’s Love”?
Omotola: I got inspired when I went on vacation and a colleague showed me what was happening with Nigerian films on YouTube. She pretty much pressured me to try to shoot a YouTube project. I ended up shooting that project in 4 days. That short timeline made it feel achievable, like I could actually pull off a feature film. Before that, I’d never seriously considered shooting one. Honestly, I went in thinking it would just be a testing ground. I didn’t expect anything to actually come of it.
I thought I’m probably never even going to show it to anybody. Then I just thought, “Let me still try and go for it, with a kind of seriousness”. Worst-case scenario, I’ll show it to all my friends and family, and if I’m lucky, maybe some streaming network will take it. That was my plan to be honest, and I never thought it would snowball into this.
How did you go about casting for the film?
Omotola: The casting had two phases. The first phase was that we originally wanted to shoot with another cast. And at some point, the whole thing changed when it was decided that I was also going to act. Initially, I didn’t think I wanted to act in the film. At one point, we were considering that I won’t act in it since I was going to be directing something big for the first time.
The second phase of casting occurred once I was going to be acting in it. Of course, you have to get the right actors who can flow with me. We started looking for someone who looked like me and could act as my daughter. We had to make sure that my husband was also going to match my energy. It was a small story that we just shot in a big way. And so we relied heavily on the casting and the characters to make the story. At one point, I knew exactly who I was looking for, for every role, and it was just down to finding them. For example, I knew exactly what I wanted my husband’s character to look like. When we started that search, we were just going through the open call until we saw his picture, and I said, “That’s the one.”
Tell me about the writing process for “Mother’s Love”
Omotola: When we decided we were going to make a feature film, the next problem was what the story would be about. We just felt like this story was small enough to produce and to shoot within the time frame that we had. I also felt emotionally connected to the story. The next thing was writing. We didn’t have much time to write, so I gave the story to Tyna and she started on the screenplay. We’ve collaborated like this for years — working back and forth—so we understand each other well and the process flows naturally.
I do the final editing of language because I’m very particular about language and character development.
Tyna: For me, it wasn’t just because it was small enough for us to shoot at the time — the main story was about a mother, and I saw myself in it. I’m a mother with children, so that role resonated deeply with me. That connection made me passionate about the project and convinced me we should pursue it. Writing came easily because I could put myself in her shoes. It only took me about four days to complete, unlike my other stories, because it explored the human angle, and I love stories about humanity.
For the script, did you both draw from your own personal experiences with your mother or from your own experiences with motherhood?
Omotola: It was mostly my story that I gave to Tyna that was the foundation for the script. As a first daughter, I found that we all have a similar story. We all have our issues with our mothers. If you’re a first daughter, you will understand that first daughters have a very toxic love/hate relationship with our mums.
Tyna: I’m the fifth daughter, which I think is similar to the story of a first daughter. At some point I also had to run away from home when I was just 17 years old. That’s why I said I could see myself in our story.
Omotola: A lot of daughters can resonate with this film. You can also imagine the agony that many daughters go through, having to deal with so much responsibility. It’s even more heightened when you are in a situation where there is grief in the family and nobody wants to really confront it. There’s a lot of trying to navigate it and learning to deal with this burden on you.
I don’t want to give too much away about our story, but everybody will find some parts of themselves in it. I think one of the reasons why a lot of people have loved “Mother’s Love” is because everybody can find themselves in it, and we were very particular about that. We wanted to tell the journey and impact of family life that we are all dealing with. It’s a family story, and several families have gone through grief, and we know how grief is in Africa.
Sometimes it’s almost as if grief is a taboo to talk about. In the Western world, you go to therapy and you can talk about it. I went through grief when my father died when I was 12. I always tell people I never cried because immediately I got home, I was forced into the position of being the strong one. Everybody was like, “Your mother has been crying for days. You cannot cry, you cannot make her cry.” They thrust you immediately into being the strong one, and you have to hold everything together. I’m the first child. I had to hold my two younger brothers together, and I had to be strong for my mother. It was too much, and it has affected me all my life.
Finally, I’m able to put these feelings into the movie. I’m sure so many other people, one way or another, have gone through grief in their own lives, and they too, can resonate with this. By the time you watch “A Mother’s Love,” you’ll see what we’re talking about.
This segues perfectly into the next question. What message do you hope your audiences take away from a mother’s love?
Tyna: We hope that people will understand that children have feelings too, and they should not be neglected because of whatever situations are happening in the family. Parents should listen to their children more and should be open to them. Parents should talk to their children — and, just as importantly, listen to them. Paying attention shows that you are truly listening and engaged in their lives. You have to talk with them; your child will be able to open up to you instead of going to hide or making decisions that might affect the family in the long run.
Omotola: Exactly what she said. That’s the truth. A lot of families don’t listen to their kids, and I think it’s because of our African orientation. You notice that families bully and talk down to their kids. It almost seems as if your opinion doesn’t count. We understand respect in the family home and how that should be. But it doesn’t mean that children don’t have feelings or aren’t going through things. A loving family is one where a child can talk to their parents openly and respectfully. They’re able to explain things to them and vice versa, where parents are not overbearing but can explain their choices and also their decisions to their kids.
What I want people to take away from this film is the business idea in the movie that shows a rags-to-riches story. What we’re trying to preach is that no matter who you are, no matter where you’re coming from, your background does not determine your future.We want the audience to know that their ideas and their hard work can get anyone out of a situation. We want to change the concept that poor people are bad eggs or bad examples. They can be a source of light and inspiration. It doesn’t matter how poor you have been; you can become anything. So, it’s also a story of hope, and this is one of the most important messages that I don’t want to be lost in the movie.
The business idea that is launched in the movie. We are actually launching in real life as well. It’s an app that’s going to exist side by side with the movie, and I believe we are the first to do that.
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What was one of the hardest challenges you faced during production?
Omotola: Everything was challenging while making this film. First and foremost, I was on vacation, so I had a very short period of time to shoot this movie. That made me feel like I was shooting myself in the foot. I had to extend my ticket, which I was only able to do for a few days.
My second challenge was that while we were shooting the movie, the national grid shut down twice. There was no light or power anywhere. As if that was not enough, fuel scarcity kicked in. Not only was there no power, but there was no fuel. For film productions, those are two things we cannot do without. We always need power, and we always need fuel because we always have to move from set to set, and we have to charge equipment. Our budget, of course, went through the roof because whatever we budgeted for, we now had to pay for extra power and fuel.
We had to start liaising with filling stations and paying for bulk fuel so that we could work. It was stressful. Having stayed out of the country for three years or so, coming back, I was in a state of shock. I kept having to remind myself: “You can do this. You grew up here. You’re tough.” It was really tough. I literally finished that movie and got on the plane.
Tyna: One of the biggest challenges, like she mentioned, was definitely the national grid shutting down and trying to figure out how to navigate fuel scarcity while bringing this film to life. It was also shot during the rainy season. Imagine filming in Makoko during the rainy season?
It was long and overwhelming. We had times when we would shoot till early morning in the rain. Sometimes we would finish shooting by 2:00 a.m. By the time we get back to the apartments, it’s already 5:00 a.m. And then in 2 or 3 hours, we would need to be out again. For me, those were the main challenges; everything else I could manage.
When we shot in Makoko, we constantly had people coming to demand settlement fees. We’d negotiate with one group, they’d leave, and then another group would show up. Eventually, we had to call the area managers to intervene. Without doing our homework beforehand, we would have faced far more challenges.
Omotola: We had a partnership with people called “Slum2school”. They have been an NGO that has worked with people in Makoko for many years and has sent a lot of the kids there to school, both locally and internationally. They read our script and saw that it was a very empowering script and movie. So they agreed to partner with us as well. Their effort made shooting in Makoko feel effortless and seamless.
Tyna, what advice would you give to upcoming Nigerian producers making their first film?
My biggest advice is to start with a strong story and a clear vision. Budgets, locations, and even cast can change, but if your story doesn’t move people, nothing else will. Also, prepare for the unexpected… filmmaking is beautiful chaos. Be humble enough to learn, bold enough to lead, and patient enough to finish what you started. Lastly, work with people who believe in your project, not just people you can afford.
Omotola, what was it like acting in, directing, and producing Mother’s Love?
Omotola: For the first time in my life, I decided that I truly prefer to direct rather than to act. I wasn’t handling most of the on-set production; Tyna took care of that. I focused more on post-production. To be honest, I hate producing. I’m not a producer by nature, and I don’t have the temperament for it. Everybody should know what their gifts are. It’s not my gift to produce. I don’t have the energy for it. But that is Tyna’s calling. She produces very perfectly. In fact, she’s called Tyna the producer for a reason. She loves it. She enjoys it.
She’s actually a mother on set as well. Sometimes she has to be a mother to even me. She pep talks me into just getting on with the work. That’s what a producer does — makes sure everybody is in the right frame of mind and everything is taken care of.
My job was directing and keeping the vision for the entire project on track. That is what I enjoy. I enjoy it so much that I’ve done it for many years. I mean, don’t forget this is my 30th anniversary in this industry. I’ve always helped to direct most of the projects that I’ve been on, and most of the directors that have been on those projects will tell you the same thing.
For the first time, I had the opportunity to do it without having to wait for anybody else’s approval. Before this, when I would help other directors or assist other directors, it was still their call. They still had to decide if they wanted my input. For the first time, I was in total control of my own work, and I totally enjoyed that. For all the stress I went through, and all the trials — that was my compensation. The fact that I could see a vision and I could bring it to reality, that was a drug to me.
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After 30 years in the industry, most people know you as an actress. Do you feel that acting experience influenced your approach behind the camera?
Omotola: Absolutely, it did. As an actor, I’m passionate about character development. When I was younger, I remember on the set of “Mortal Inheritance” actually teaching my co-star Fred Amata how to cry. I was 16/17 at the time.
I realise that directing has actually always been my talent. Directing was where I was actually always going to end up. And I’ve always wanted to direct. I’m just someone who never rushes to do things. In the past, every director I’ve worked with has encouraged me to direct. I’ve never been that actor who comes on set and just acts and disappears.
I’m that actor who is on set with a director, always discussing their ideas and trying to look at possible angles. Always trying to suggest something or the other. It’s just been the way I have always operated. So yes, acting has really helped me be a better director, because directing my own project has always been something that I wanted to jump out and now I get the opportunity.
Tyna, what were your favourite parts of working alongside Omotola on this project?
Tyna: Beyond being an exceptional actor, working with Omotola as a first-time director was truly inspiring. She came prepared, passionate, and very intentional with her choices. What stood out the most was how confidently she stepped into the director’s seat and delivered with an A-game energy — firm, creative, focused, and collaborative. She created a space where everyone felt seen, guided, and motivated to do their best work. Watching her translate her emotional intelligence as an actor into her directing was one of my favourite parts of the experience. She didn’t just direct, she led.
Omotola, what was your favourite part of working alongside Tyna on this project?
Omotola: Tyna has worked with me for a very long time. She actually started as my PA a long time ago. When my company started, she grew to become its Chief of Operations. She brought her creative side into the company and has been writing for the company. I think I’ve known Tyna for maybe 25 or 26 years, and she’s now a major film producer. She’s one of the biggest backbones for many film productions in the country, and of course, one of the best backbones of my company as well. So working with her was easy because she has grown to become a family member, and we work very seamlessly.
Tyna, what did you learn about yourself through the process of producing this film?
Tyna: I learned that I’m stronger than I give myself credit for. Producing “A Mother’s Love” pushed me emotionally, mentally, and logistically… but it also revealed my resilience, my passion for storytelling, and my ability to lead even when things get overwhelming. It reminded me why I do this — because stories change people, and I want to be part of that change.
Omotola, 30 years in the industry, how are you feeling about the evolution of Nigerian cinema?
Omotola: I feel good about it. We’re still here, that’s what matters. There are so many industries that started at that time and are nowhere near this stage in the world. So as long as Nollywood is still here and we’re still forging ahead, that makes me happy. I do feel a certain sadness because the pace at which we were initially growing couldn’t be sustained. Naturally, this gives me a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, if you recall, there was a time in the early 2000s or so to mid 2000s we were growing at a very high speed.
We went international. We were actually doing movies on DVDs and VHS, and we could go around the world. Our films moved around the world easily. A lot of people knew us. We were introducing our films very quickly to different cultures, different countries and different audiences. We were doing good and somehow the whole process changed.
The only thing I wish we’d continued was having both cinema releases and physical copies of our films exist side by side. Unfortunately, one got eliminated for the other one to start. When the cinema and streaming era started, it killed that industry and that industry was the backbone of Nollywood.
Selling physical copies of our films allowed productions to see a real profit. I think the world is just moving at a pace where you can tell that a lot of people just want entertainment without stressing. I believe it is our job to think about how we can entertain people and how we can deliver excitement to people in a way that encourages them to support the Nigerian film industry. With our film “A Mother’s Love,” we’ve created a story that we hope many people can resonate with and see themselves in and that was always the driving force behind my career in the industry.
