Africa's mermaid tale is unveiled in 'Mami Wata' trailer

C.J. "Fiery" Obasi, the director of Mami Wata, has announced the United States debut as he released the official trailer in a post on his Twitter page.

The trailer revealed a village in West Africa, ruled and protected by the mermaid goddess "Mami Wata" and its intermediary to the people. But things go south when a man stood up to point the people's direction to the failings of the goddess and the impact of the village's infrastructural backwardness.

Things are worsened by Jabi, a local, who is determined to take over control of the village. Prisca and Zinwe must then work together to save their village and restore Mami Wata’s glory in Iyi village.

Mami Wata is expected to hit the Nigerian cinemas on September 8, 2023, and then be distributed by Dekanalog, a film and soundtrack distribution company, to select theatres in the United States on September 29, 2023.

Produced by Oge Obasi, the cast of this movie includes Rita Edochie, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Evelyne Ily Juhen, Kelechi Udegbe, and Tough Bone.

The upcoming theatrical release comes after its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, as it became the first homegrown Nigerian film at the festival. It has since gathered a lot of awards including the award for the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography.

Then the PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE Pauline S. Vieyra (African Critics Award), MEILLEUR IMAGE (Cinematography Award) and finally the MEILLEUR DÉCOR (Set Design Award) at the Pan-African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) 2023.