Dika Ofoma's A Happy Ending Revisits the Legacy of Domitilla in Zikoko Life Anthology

By Akinwande Jordan

The filmmaker's latest short film draws inspiration from Zeb Ejiro's 1996 classic while reimagining its themes for a new generation of Nigerian audiences.

By Akinwande Jordan

Nearly three decades after Domitilla became one of the defining works of Nollywood's video-film era, filmmaker Dika Ofoma is returning to its legacy with A Happy Ending, his latest short film and one of three entries in the second edition of the Zikoko Life anthology.

Produced by Big Cabal Media in partnership with BluHouse Studios, Zikoko Life adapts stories published across Zikoko's editorial platforms into short films. This year's anthology also includes Siraam and Before We Fall Asleep, continuing the initiative's commitment to intimate, character-driven Nigerian stories.

For Ofoma, A Happy Ending is neither a remake nor a modern retelling of Domitilla. Instead, the filmmaker describes the project as an homage to Zeb Ejiro's landmark 1996 film, borrowing from its emotional architecture while charting an entirely new narrative.

Like Domitilla, A Happy Ending follows women navigating uncertainty, complicated relationships and the pursuit of a better life. Rather than recreate the original's story, however, Ofoma relocates those concerns within a contemporary Nigeria, exploring how the aspirations and vulnerabilities that defined Ejiro's classic continue to resonate today.

The connection between the two films extends beyond thematic influence. Anne Njemanze, whose performance in Domitilla remains one of the most enduring in early Nollywood, appears in A Happy Ending, creating a direct bridge between one of the industry's foundational works and a new generation of independent filmmaking.

Her presence is more than nostalgic casting. It functions as an acknowledgement of Domitilla's lasting influence on Nigerian cinema and reinforces the dialogue that A Happy Ending seeks to establish with the film's legacy.

Over the past decade, Ofoma has emerged as one of Nigeria's most distinctive independent filmmakers. His work—including A Quiet Monday, God's Wife and A Japa Tale—is characterised by restrained storytelling, emotional precision and a sustained interest in contemporaneous issues, family and the mundane rhythms of everyday life. A Happy Ending continues that trajectory while engaging directly with one of Nollywood's most culturally significant films.

Released in 1996, Domitilla became a defining moment in the video-film/VHS era. Directed by Zeb Ejiro, the film examined the lives of sex workers surviving on the margins of a conservative society and quickly established itself as one of the industry's most influential productions. Nearly thirty years later, its themes continue to inspire filmmakers seeking to revisit and reinterpret Nollywood's cinematic history.

A Happy Ending stars Ifeoma Obinwa, Ruby 

Okezie and Anne Njemanze, and will premiere as part of the second Zikoko Life anthology alongside Siraam (UZOAMAKA POWER) and Before We Fall Asleep (KAELO IYIZOBA) Together, the three films continue the anthology's mission of bringing contemporary Nigerian stories from the page to the screen while demonstrating how the country's cinematic past continues to shape its future.