The thriving Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood keeps directors busy: In the last decade Daniel Oriahi has made over 25 films. But the filmmaker had a new career breakthrough when the The Tribeca Festival accepted his latest, “The weekend,” a suspenseful thriller about in-laws with nightmarish appetites.

The selection brings welcome recognition to the 41-year-old director after years of making films. “You wonder, 'Where does this end?'” Oriahi said of the relentless pace. “The Weekend,” which premieres Sunday, is intended as a sophisticated, cross-genre farewell to Nollywood quickies and will be screened in the Midnight section of the festival, which runs Wednesday through June 16 and is aimed at adults.

Oriahi's debut film in 2013 was a psychological thriller called “Misfit,” and his breakthrough came in 2015 with the action comedy “Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo,” set in the Nigerian capital Lagos.

Oriahi’s love of films dates back to his childhood in the small town of Ewu, when he read comics about films such as “Die Hard: Now More Than Ever” and watched Steven Spielberg films on cable TV. After attending film school in Nigeria, he started his own production company to meet supply and demand.

In The Weekend, normal tensions escalate into gruesome demands as Nikya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and her fiancé Luke (Bucci Franklin) struggle with his cheerful but deeply troubling family. In a video interview, Oriahi spoke about how he keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, the challenges of Nollywood and his movie heroes. The conversation has been edited and condensed.

What attracted you to this story?

I haven't had the opportunity to necessarily make big-budget films, and in the Nigerian landscape, The Weekend is considered a big-budget film. Those kinds of films are rare to find. But I pride myself on being a filmmaker who wants to make films that get seen, so I've made a lot of material for local streamers. Over time, I discovered that I'm drawn to narratives with dysfunctional family dynamics. Frankly, I come from a country where those dynamics are very dysfunctional.

The whole country?

Yes! We have this colonial past, you know, and it has shaped the country. But aside from the family issues, I'm drawn to films that deal with trauma. When I got the script, I liked that there were characters who wanted something but weren't honest about why. And it can get complicated when you're in a relationship with someone who has family dynamics like in the film.

I grew up with Roman Polanski’s films, like “Rosemary’s baby.” “Hereditary,” is also a great movie. I recently saw “The wailing.” It morphs into so many things: it starts out as a thriller, then it looks like a zombie film. I've never seen it made in Nigeria with a Nigerian approach. I could sense that the world wants to see films that are not tied to one genre. I want to make films like this that have many layers and that people can see and relate to from different perspectives.

You bring a lot of experience from directing many films. You've probably seen the news about Roger Corman ——

Yes! That really hit me because Corman was one of those filmmakers that I always took comfort in because he is the king of B-movies and so many great filmmakers got their first break with this guy. So I always told myself that the whole Nollywood space was like Roger Corman: To survive you have to make a lot of cheap, quick films, but over time you find your voice and your style. Film school is great. I went to film school. I taught at film school. But some things you learn on the job.

Just the idea of ​​working in Nigeria – it's very chaotic. You have to deal with power cuts, gas and oil shortages. You have to deal with external elements that affect how the film turns out and how do you keep your voice? Even The Weekend, I think we shot in less than 18 days. Because of the way we make films in Nigeria, people jump from one set to the next. You have to be very focused.

“The Weekend” starts off slowly before it gets wilder. How do you keep the tension going?

So the acting orientation in Nollywood is very dramatic – it comes from television, so you have to be dramatic and melodramatic and use your body. I told everyone: restraint. Just hold back. And when they're talking to another person, they should be aware that they're keeping information to themselves. So don't give it away through body language or tone of voice. That influenced my casting: the actress who plays the lead role has a low-key face where you can't tell what she's thinking.

The way the family functions also points to a sinister patriarchal side of society.

Yeah, I'm thinking about that now because when I came back to Nigeria recently, I was very struck by how much men dominate the country. I felt uncomfortable with the kind of interactions that take place there. And in The Weekend, in the dinner scene, there's a character who makes derogatory comments about women. I remember when we were editing it and we were doing different takes of people's responses, the editor took a man's response to the comments as the next shot. And I thought, no, it shouldn't be a man, it should be the women reacting. Let's do a wide shot and see how every woman in the room reacts to that.

You mentioned some international influences, but could you name some Nigerian filmmakers you like?

Oh yes! The first person that comes to mind is Michael OmonouaHe is part of a filmmaking collective called Surreal16. CJ Obasi made “Mommy Wata” This was the rare Nigerian film to screen at Sundance, winning Best Cinematography last year. Abba Makama really seems to me to be an interesting filmmaker, and Ema Edosio is unbelievable. Jade Osiberu has a contract with Amazon Prime.

I think I'm attracted to filmmakers who don't pigeonhole themselves. We make films with our own unique voice and they are accepted internationally. Because that's always been our desire, to make a film that can spread.