Cinema of Nigeria

Template:African Cinema The Cinema of Nigeria is colloquially known as Nollywood, the name given to the Nigerian video movie industry. The term is of uncertain origin, but was derived from Hollywood in the same manner as Bollywood (see also: Tollywood and Kollywood). Nollywood has no "studios" in the Hollywood sense. Many of the big producers have offices in Surulere, Lagos. Idumota market on Lagos Island is the primary distritution centre. The video movies are shot in locations all over Nigeria with distinct regional characteristics between northern movies (primarily in the Hausa language), the Yoruba language movies produced in the west and the popular English language productions shot in the southeast.

The efforts of early Nigerian filmmakers in the 1960s, like Ola Balogun and Hubert Ogunde, were frustrated by the high cost of film production. Nollywood, however, is a video movie industry—Nigerians call them "home videos." All Nollywood movies are produced using digital video technology. Television broadcasting in Nigeria began in the 1960s and received much government support in its early years. By the mid-1980s every state had its own broadcasting station. Law limited foreign television content so producers in Lagos began televising local popular theater productions. Many of these were circulated on video as well, and a small scale informal video movie trade developed.

There is some debate concerning what caused this small local market in videos to explode into a booming industry that has pushed foreign media off the shelves in much of Africa and is now marketed all over the world. Use of English rather than local languages served to expand the market. Aggressive marketing using posters, trailers, and television advertising also played a role in Nollywood's success. Many point to the 1992 release of Living in Bondage, a film about a businessman whose dealings with a "money cult" result in the death of his wife, as the industry's first "blockbuster." Since then, thousands of movies have been released. One of the first Nigerian movie to reach international fame was the 2003 release Osuofia In London, starring Nkem Owoh, the famous Nigerian comedic actor.

Many Nollywood movies have themes dealing with the moral dilemmas facing modern Africans. Some films promote the Christian or Muslim faiths. Some are overtly evangelical. Some movies, hovever, address questions of religious diversity like the popular film Not Without My Daughter about a Muslim man and a Christian women who want to marry but go through many obstacles.

Many foreign and local critics have criticized Nollywood for trite plots, poor dialogue, and poor production values. Some worry that the prevalence of witchcraft and violence in the movies may encourage the worst stereotypes about Africans. At the same time, these local movies have achieved the difficult feat of outselling Hollywood films in Nigeria and many other African countries. Nigerian video movies are distributed through the informal economy of petty traders in Africa. In this way they are available in even the most remote areas of the continent.

Notable Nollywood actors

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Notable Nollywood actors

See also

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