VIDEOS IN MOTION - fasopo

will discuss further below, many of these films place the diaspora at the center of their plots. Whilediasporic settings are not new in the video industry (Ayorinde 1999; Haynes 2003 and 2009), theprominent role they have played in the new wave testifies to the growing influence of the diasporaon the video industry as a site of production, a textual device, and a market.IV: The Tenant V: Ijé, the journey VI: Anchor BabyWithin the recent releases that achieved cinema screening a large number of films are shot in thediaspora. Onyekachi Ejim’s The Tenant (2008 – image IV), Chineze Anyeane’s Ije, the Journey(2010 – image V), Lonzo Nzekue’s Anchor Baby (2010 – image VI), and Obi Emelonye’s TheMirror Boy (2011), for instance, are all shot abroad and have transnational cast and crew. Withinthis list, the film Ije is particularly interesting. Shot in California (USA) and Plateau State (Nigeria),Ije is a thriller whose tension is built around the contrast between the illusion of the Americandream and the harsh realities of racism and sexism that characterize American society. The filmstars two extremely popular Nigerian actors (Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde), withthe rest of the cast mainly composed of American and African-American actors. The film is shot in35mm with international crew. The budget has never been disclosed, but it is likely that it couldeasily reach the record level (for a Nigerian film) of a million dollars. Once released in Nigeria, inJuly 2010, the film became the greatest box office success since the reintroduction of cinema hallsin Nigeria, more successful than mainstream Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean. Itmade around 60ml naira (US$380,000 dollars) in three weeks of screening in just five cinemas inNigeria: Silverbird, Ozone and Genesis-Deluxe in Lagos, Silverbird in Abuja, and Genesis-Deluxe83