Case C - Screen Africa

Nollywood’s impact on Africa
The positive or negative influences of film
on the average individual often bring
about a different approach to issues
and their day-to-day relationships.
Just as Hollywood movies can be said to have
influenced the film industries in most part
of the world, Nollywood movies have taken
over a large percentage of filmmaking in
West Africa.
According to the director general of the
Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board,
Emeka Mba, Nigeria is currently recognised
as the third largest movie producer in the
world after India and the US. Says Mba:
“Nigerian film products are widely available
and in demand by not only Nigerians but
by other Africans. The demand for Nigerian
movies outside of Africa is driven by a huge
population of expatriate Nigerians and other
Africans living outside the continent.
“No other realm of endeavour by Nigerians
has so profoundly conveyed the value,
character and promises of the nation in the
global brand view. This is despite the fact
that professionalism and quality are usually
sacrificed on the altar of ‘speed and quantity’.
Furthermore, the vast majority of Nigerian
movies depict aspects of our national life
which often reinforce the negative stereotypes
of Nigerians.”
However, not all movies shot in Hollywood
are of a high quality either. Most Hollywood
movies have presented the average American
on the street as a gun toting individual, but
that has not stopped millions of people
thronging American embassies the world
over.
The Nigerian movie industry had existed
before what is today known as Nollywood.
Movie veterans like Ogunde, Baba Sala and a
host of others shot films that met international
standards. In those days film units were used
purely as agents for acculturation or social
change.
With the advent of Nollywood practitioners
consistently churning out movies every
day, many Nigerian youths who might have
opted for a career in crime have taken to
acting, scriptwriting, wardrobe, make-up,
photography and videography. This trend
has since spilled into neighbouring countries
which have seen the birth of young video club
owners stocking their shelves with the latest
Nollywood movies. Lots of movie sellers have
also emerged.
The successes achieved by some Nigerian
actors not only put the country on the world
map but made a celebrities out of them.
Foreigners from as far as Tanzania come to
Nigeria to purchase the latest Nollywood
movies.
FInancIal prospects
According to the Global Media Entertainment
Outlook Report commissioned by
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the film
and entertainment industry is one of the
fastest growing sectors in the world economy,
turning over billions of dollars and generating
millions of jobs. The PWC report projects that
the global entertainment industry is expected
to generate over US$600bn by 2007.
In the last 15 years the Nigerian
industry has experienced tremendous
growth in the television and motion
pictures industries. It’s been argued that
our film industry alone generates over
N30bn worth of economic activities.
Nollywood has over the years turned many
of its practitioners into millionaires and the
financial benefits and prospects accruable
from the industry are enormous. Recently
it has attracted investors form the banking
sector. The banks are beginning to see the
future of an industry that has grown beyond
their wildest imagination.
However, distribution and piracy are
regarded as the two monsters plaguing the
industry today. The majority of the Nollywood
movies found in other countries are pirated.
Some Nigerian movie practitioners have
had to look for measures to curb piracy.
At some point they have collaborated
with government agencies like the Nigeria
Copyright Commission, which came out
with a scheme known as STRAP.
QualIty and IdentIty
There have been some who have complained
about the video and audio quality of
Nollywood movies. But a major issue of
concern is ‘the bandwagon syndrome’,
where a filmmaker produces a film similar
to another just because it has made money.
Often if an actor is used in a particular film
and it is successful, the same actor is then
called upon to appear in the same movie but
under another name and maybe with some
slight changes to either the storyline or the
scenery.
Yet, according to scholar and analyst Zainab
Omaki, despite the flaws
inherent in most Nigerian
movies, Nollywood has
been able to create a sense
of nationhood. However,
she frowns on the
duplicity of storyline and
story lifting. “If civilisation
started in Egypt, I believe
other cultures borrowed
from Egyptian culture
and improved upon it.
That can’t be applied to
Nollywood. Nigerians
have absorbed the art of
filmmaking, but they have
failed to present their own
creativity in their movies.”
Omaki’s main complaint
is that “films are generally meant to
be national signifiers: they reflect the culture
and the beliefs of a society. Nigerian producers,
however, have absorbed western culture
and mixed it with indigenous ones to make
films that are neither Nigerian nor western.
It is common knowledge that media consumption
can affect the way people act. This
is particularly true in Nigeria where much of
the population is under 20 and interested in
Nollywood. These mishmash movies are inspiring
young people to shun their identity
because the values instilled by producers do
not reflect Nigerians objectively.
“The producers rely on an overload of
romantic and interpersonal conflicts, while
the intelligence, creativity and normalcy of
Nigerians are too often missing. By focusing
on the country’s problems, Nollywood films
give their viewers very little pride in their
country. The movies that are not westernoriented
are hardly an improvement, with
their emphasis on black magic or ‘juju’. That
has caused other West Africans and the rest
of the world to view Nigerians as uncivilised
and untrustworthy.”
West aFrIca
A scan through the TV channels of most
West African countries will reveal a large
dominance of Nigerian movies and soaps,
such as 70% in Ghana. Arguably, Nigerian
movies might be said to have changed the
lifestyle of most West Africans. Most West
African countries have adopted some aspects
of the Nigerian dress sense.
A case in point is the Nollywood blockbuster
Abuja Connection and its sequel, which led to
an Afro-like hairstyle in Cameroon becoming
known by the same name. In addition, the
costume design in the movie was also adopted
by some Cameroonian ladies in the belief that
it was the style of the nouveau riche.
Some Ghanaian movie makers now shoot
the majority of their blockbusters using
notable Nigerian actors as leads. This process
AfriCA
The Nigerian film industry, dubbed Nollywood by Western journalists, is known worldwide for its
prolific output. Not only can a thriving film industry impact positively on its national economy, it
can have other far-reaching effects as well. Nigerian industry consultant TAIWO O TAIWO takes
a closer look.
NIgERIAN STORY – Taiwo O Taiwo
has not only yielded a huge turnover in
movie sales in both countries but has created
a synergy and an enabling environment for
ideas exchange and co-existence between
them.
In Uganda there are viewing centres
where citizens flock to see African movies.
According to a study titled Survey of Content
and Audiences of Video Halls in Uganda
2005–2006, Ugandans are willing to pay
more money to watch local, East African or
Nigerian productions than for Hollywood
and Bollywood blockbusters. Local
productions apart from Nigerian, Ghanaian
and some Kenyan films are very scarce, with
the operators and owners concerned about
copyright issues.
However, some Africans have complained
that Nigerian films are full of ritual scenes;
trends they feel are crippling to the fabric
of their own society. It should however be
noted that these films were made to show
the repercussions of believing in rituals as a
means to solving life’s problems.
One unique aspect of the average Nollywood
story is that it tells the Nigerian story, with the
tourism potential of the country and its way
of life brought to the fore. Sometimes foreign
producers cash in on Nollywood to produce
movies which they aim to sell mostly in
Nigeria or to Nigerian communities overseas.
An example is Phat Girlz in which African-
American actor Jimmy-Jean Louis played the
role of a Nigerian doctor who falls in love
with a voluptuous American lady played by
Monique, another African-American.
MovIes as a vehIcle
For change
Former Nigerian president Chief Olusegeun
Obasanjo challenged Nigerian filmmakers
to make movies that would help fight
corruption. Many a filmmaker yielded to the
call and made films that frown upon Advance
Fee Fraud, popularly known as 419. Many
more films exposing Internet fraud were
produced.
To ensure that these films were suitable
for public viewing, the National Film
and Video Censors Board embarked on a
massive campaign aimed at sanitising
the film industry. It declared total war on
dubious practitioners who would not allow
their movies to go through the normal
classification process.
With more and more movies coming out of
Nollywood every week, Nigerian filmmakers
have braved the odds and made good use
of their talent in an economy that was not
conducive to success. They have been able
to tell the Nigerian story to the best of their
abilities. One can only hope that other
African countries who continue to watch
these movies are inspired to produce movies
that will tell their own stories.
October 2007 – SCREENAFRICA 43