Nollywood: The History and Development of

Nigerian CinemaBy Nina Ejirika

Introduction

Nollywood, the Nigerian video film industry, is an unlikely success story. With an output of between 800 and 1500 films per year it is one of the most productive, if not the most productive, of the world’s film industries. Its success is even more remarkable considering that Nigerians have long had easy and pervasive access to inexpensive pirated versions of both Hollywood and Bollywood movies.

In a mere two decades, Nollywood has become one of the world’s most important creative industries. It has been an explosive commercial success with vast numbers of videos available in shops and on street corners throughout Africa and beyond.

The Beginnings of an Industry

• The first Nigerian films were made by filmmakers such as Ola Balogun and Hubert Ogunde in the 1960s, but they were frustrated by the high cost of film production. But in 1992 Nigeria’s home video industry, popularly known as Nollywood, took a dynamic turn with the release of the movie “Living in Bondage“. The film set the pace that would forever change the face of the home video industry within Nigeria and across the African continent.

Living in Bondage: Nollywood’s First Blockbuster

• First Nollywood Blockbuster, released straight to video

• - Released in 1992• - Directed by: Chris Opi Rapu• - Starring: Kanayo O. Kanayo,

Francis Agu• - Igbo language• - Horror film, unhappy ending• - Started trend of supernatural

horror films in Nollywood• - Money ritual crystallized the

sudden mysterious wealth that came with the oil boom

• - Gave symbolic structure for the moral condemnation felt by Nigerians that the elite were up to no good

The Genres of Nollywood

• Nigerian films are deeply rooted in Nigerian cultural traditions and socialtexts that focus on Nigerian community life. Nigerian stories are told using African idioms, proverbs, costumes, artifacts, cultural display, and the imagery of Africa.

• The common Nollywood genres include horror, comedy, urban legend, mythic parable, love and romance, juju, witchcraft, melodrama, and historical epic.

• Movie production helps to determine the differences and transformations that have occurred in Nigeria. Most films are shot in Pidgin, Ibo, Yoruba, or Hausa - the main languages of  Nigeria’s 250 or so ethnic groups-and then subtitled in English.

From Books to Movies: Film adaptions of Iconic Nigerian Literature

• Over the years, some of Nigeria’s best literature have been adapted into films. These include: The Concubine (1966) written by Elechi Amadi and adapted into a movie by Andy Amenechi, Things Fall Apart (1958) written by Chinua Achebe, MAAMI (1987) written by Femi Osofisan and adapted into a movie directed by Tunde Kelani in 2012, Kongi’s Harvest (1965) written by Wole Soyinka and adapted into a movie directed by Ossie Davis, and most recently, Half of A Yellow Sun (2007), written by Chimamanda Adichie and adapted into a film directed by Biyi Bandele in 2013.

Criticisms• One of the biggest criticism from early practitioners in the film industry is the fact that Nollywood is not a film industry but a home video industry. • Critics assert that Living in Bondage merely sparked the revival of the home video industry, which had slowed down in its production from the time when home videos were made by the likes of the late Muyideen Alade Aromire. • Many detest the name “Nollywood” for its lack of originality.• Criticized for excessive melodrama, crooked pictures, bad sound, overacting, repetitive stories, low-brow special effects

Current State of Nollywood• More recently movies from Nollywood are

quickly evolving from merely being home videos available via VCDs and DVDs and it appears that more effort is being made towards production values. An emerging trend is for these movies to be screened in cinemas across Nigeria.• iROKOtv is a web platform that provides free

and paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie steaming websites, giving free and instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles.• On the average, Nollywood make movies in

about two to three week and about 50,000 copies are sold both in Nigeria and in Diaspora.

The Africa Movie Academy Awards

• The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. It was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe and run through the Africa Film Academy. The awards are aimed at honoring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well as uniting the African continent through arts and culture.

• The award presentation is attended by numerous media representatives, celebrities, politicians, journalists, actresses and actors from all across the world. The AMA awards are widely considered to be Africa's most important film event and the most prestigious film award in Africa. The most recent ceremony, honoring films in 2013, was held at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Center, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria on May 24, 2014.

Clips and Trailers

• Half a Yellow Sun Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq9jI1QnEXU• Mother of George Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF7IPYNElKA• Anchor Baby Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yx_kiBOZDA• Turning Point Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp9XGldx54w• Maami Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35_adqMyBbQ

Sources • Nollywood And The World - How Nollywood Is Viewed Outside Nigeria. (n.d.).

Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/29872/20/nollywood-and-the-world-how-nollywood-is-viewed-ou.html• Cinema of Nigeria. (2014, January 12). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Nigeria• (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/africahaveyoursay/2010/06/is-nollywood-destroying-africa.shtml• Nigeria: Nollywood as a Positive Tool for African Transformation."Nigeria:

Nollywood as a Positive Tool for African Transformation. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.