Portrait of a Man
we are, despite everything, lovable…
ABOUT
When Ama shows up at Khalid’s apartment, we do not know who she is or why he is so nervous around her. Through flashbacks, we see that Khalid and Ama were once madly in love. So, why did he leave? What concerns do they have about his mental health? Is their love enough to bring him back home?
YEAR 2025
RUN TIME 13:06 Min
EMAIL aishat.abiri@gmail.com Website: http://www.aishatabiri.com
CAST & CREW CREDITS
DIRECTOR-PRODUCER Aishat Abiri
CINEMATOGRAPHER Samson Binutu
COMPOSER Leo Ross
SOUND MIXER Camila Franco Ribeiro Gomide
WARDROBE & MAKEUP Julianna Yates
EDITOR Aishat Abiri
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS Olivia James
CAST
Lloyd Marcus | CeCe Heard
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
When I was 16 years old, someone I cared deeply about had a mental breakdown and it felt like my life broke down with it. For the longest time, I had no words to articulate what things were like at home. In truth, home no longer felt like home.
My first attempt at interrogating my feelings was in a short story, Arese, which was about a woman whose husband got a mental health diagnosis and shortly after, went missing. In the process of searching for clues to find him, she finds items that recall memories of their time together, their love. The story ends this way:
“And even though this has unexpected turns and slippery slopes, this happiness is hers and she will cling to it even through bleeding fingers.”
On a rainy day in Benin City, I would have a conversation with a loved one who was scared of marrying a girl he liked. He was sure it would fail because of his mental health. I thought of the closing lines of my story. Of the idea that we could be clung to even through bleeding fingers, that we could be loved so fiercely, against all odds; the idea that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… love never fails. I found all these promises of love hard to believe.
In Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, she says:
“What was it about this unlovable century that convinced us we were, despite everything, eminently lovable as a people?”
Maybe we are not convinced. Maybe it’s the opposite. That every time we look in the mirror we find a new reason, a new justification for our “unlovableness.” How do we as a people convince ourselves that we cannot be loved?
With this question constantly on my mind, I decided to revisit Arese. The more I analyzed the story, the more I realized that I wanted to shift the audience’s gaze, to make the husband the main character. What was his side of the story? Why did he leave? What are the weights that we cannot share with the people who love us?
DIRECTOR BIO
Aishat Abiri is a filmmaker, passionate about storytelling as a means of introspection. Aishat has over six years of experience writing for film and three years of experience as a producer/director. Aishat has also been a writer on several projects for social change, including Shuga for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Story Story for BBC Media Action. She was Story Editor for the Africa Magic show, Itura, which won Best Scripted Series at the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. Her directorial debut, “Does God Love Women?” screened at the 2022 Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film and Best Short Drama-African.
Aishat enjoys color and this always finds its way into her work. Her latest project, Portrait of a Man, sparks conversation about marriage, love, and mental health in the Black community. She is a 2024 Saul Zaentz Fellow, a 2024 France-Merrick Fellow, and she is currently pursuing an MFA in filmmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with an emphasis in Intercultural Communication.
INTERVIEWS
FILM AND PRODUCTION STILLS
AWARDS
FULL FILM
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Aishat Abiri is a filmmaker, passionate about storytelling as a means of introspection. Aishat has over six years of experience writing for film and three years of experience as a producer/director. Aishat has also been a writer on several projects for social change, including Shuga for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Story Story for BBC Media Action. She was Story Editor for the Africa Magic show, Itura, which won Best Scripted Series at the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. Her directorial debut, “Does God Love Women?” screened at the 2022 Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film and Best Short Drama-African.
Aishat enjoys color and this always finds its way into her work. Her latest project, Portrait of a Man, sparks conversation about marriage, love, and mental health in the Black community. She is a 2024 Saul Zaentz Fellow, a 2024 France-Merrick Fellow, and she is currently pursuing an MFA in filmmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with an emphasis in Intercultural Communication.
(Update provided in April 2025)