DREAMERS
UK | 78 min | 15
After fleeing persecution at home, Nigerian migrant Isio (Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́) is sent to Hatchworth Removal Centre, where she hopes her asylum plea will receive a fair hearing. Isio believes the only way out is to play by the rules, even when her charismatic new roommate, Farah (Ann Akinjirin), warns her otherwise. In the confines of detention, Farah’s friendship brings colour to Isio’s world. As their unexpected bond blossoms into romance, Isio must decide whether to continue trusting in a broken system that threatens to tear them apart or dare to follow Farah into a risky plan that could cost them everything.
Acclaimed producer Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s (Blue Story, Boxing Day) visually bold and deeply moving directorial debut is a tender story of defiance, which insists that love can endure even in the most hostile places.
Director: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
Starring: Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Ann Akinjirin, Diana Yekinni, Aiysha Hart
In UK & Ireland cinemas 5 December 2025.
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor runs Joi Productions. In 2019, she produced the hit Blue Story, which became the top grossing film of its genre. In 2020, she was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough, as well as Joi Productions receiving a BFI Vision Award. At the end of 2021, she produced Aml Ameen’s debut, Boxing Day, the first all-black Christmas film out of the UK. In 2022 Ringside Studio acquired a stake in Joi Productions.
In 2021, Joy directed For Love, a short film with the support of BBC Film, which premiered at BFI London Film Festival with a Best Short Film Nomination. It was later nominated for Best Short Film at SXSW in 2022 and won an Honorable Mention in the Best Short Film category at BlackStar Film Festival and Best Short at DeadCentre Film Festival. The short has been to Aspen and Outfest to name a few more.
