'Nollywood' is playing it's role in world globalization. The Nigerian film industry has become the second largest movie producer in the world. Runners up to the Indian film industry's Bollywood when it comes to annual film production output. Each month an average of 200 Nigerian movies are made and distributed.
When Did the Nigerian Movie Industry Begin?
The '60s saw filmmakers such as Ola Balogun and Hubert Ogunde making traditional films on celluloid, but the great expense and time that this format consumed meant that it didn't succeed as well as the present day movie industry has. The advent of cheaper formats such as video and digital are crucial components to the success story of Nollywood.
Nollywood's First Blockbuster
In 1992 Kenneth Nnebue imported blank video cassettes in bulk from Taiwan, intending to sell them on, he hypothesized that if there was something interesting on them they should sell quicker. Along with Okechukwu Ogunjiofor and director Chris Obi Rapu they produced a 163 minute movie, which people document as the first Nollywood movie, entitled Living in Bondage. The plot sees a man murdering his wife as a sacrifice, after being initiated into a secret cult. This brings great riches to him and as revenge, his wife's ghost haunts her living husband. The script was in the Igbo language and the film sold more than 750,000 copies. Due to the success of Living in Bondage, many other film-makers did the same.
How Much Money Does Nollywood Make?
According to The Economist, Nollywood is grossing well over $200 million annually and employs about a million people. After agriculture it is Nigeria's largest employer. The films are pretty low-budget, in comparison to block-buster Hollywood films. They cost between $15,000 and $100,000 to produce. Most of the business is from selling directly to members of the public, rather at movie theaters. Each DVD is sold for approximately $1.50 and an average of 25,000 to 50,000 are sold. The Guardian online newspaper reports that certain blockbusters can sell up to 200,000 copies.
Most of the films are now made in English, although many of the different tribal groups make films in their own languages too. Kano the capital city of the Muslim north has been given the name 'Kannywood' as the city produces around 150 films in the Hausa language every year. The use of English has expanded the market into all the English speaking countries in Africa. Famous actors from different African countries are cast to increase the appeal beyond Nigeria.
Great Stories
The appeal of the these movies are their stories. Nollywood manages to convey age old topics, such as homicide, greed, lust, love adultery and the occult in such a dramatic way that audiences across the world just lap up. The films also give an interesting insight into Nigerian clothes, architecture and the city landscape. It has put African glamour on the map in the same way that American soap operas, Dallas (1978-91) and Dynasty (1981-89) did for US glamour in the '80s. It's an opportunity to view Nigerians express themselves in the most dramatic of situations. Although the plots are fictitious, Africans will, to a degree, identify with the storylines and characters.
Criticisms of Nigerian Movies
It would be difficult to find anyone who has seen Nollywood movies, who doesn't have any criticism of them. It is a challenge to watch a movie throughout without adjusting the volume a few times as the sound is not always the best quality. These films are usually made in less than two weeks and therefore technical quality is not top of the agenda. The BBC News website asked the public asked to comment on their experience of Nollywood and while many love it, many can't forgive the poor technical quality.
Many of the earlier films would feature some sort of 'black magic' theme and usually end with the a Christian message of good over powering-evil. Complaints about too much witchcraft and voodoo usually come from those watching the movies outside Nigeria and Africa. These particular films tend to do very well within Nigeria as reported on The Economist website.
Nollywood Stars
One of Nollywood's biggest hits was comedy Osofia in London (2004), directed by Kingsley Ogoro, starring Nkem Owoh. Chico Ejiro has directed over 100 films and is nicknamed 'Mr Prolific'. He is one of the richest directors in Nigeria and his brothers Zeb and Peter are also Nollywood directors. Geneviève Nnaji is one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood. She has performed in more than 80 films and won an African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) in 2005. Heart-throb actor Ramsey Nouah also won an (AMAA) for best actor, In 2010.
Ghanaian pensioner Eva Asamany 80, stated, "I only want to watch African films, especially the Nigerian ones". This proves that the need for these movies exists and Nollywood has stepped up to fulfilling that demand.
Sources
- The Economist: Nollywood, Lights, Camera, Africa
- The Economish: Nigeria's Film Industry, Nollywood Dreams
- Focus Features: Hooray for Nollywood
- Unesco Institute for Statistics: Information Sheet No1 Analysis of the UIS International Survey on Feature Film Statistics.
- Nigeria Films: Chico Ejiro- Mr Prolific
Elsie Ofori - Elsie Ofori graduated from London Metropolitan University in 1999. Prior to freelance writing, she taught English in an adult college.
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