In tackling this topic, I shall be taking a look at what is African cinema, then I shall attempt to deconstruct the phenomenon called Nollywood then finally I shall be exploring the emerging talents and the future of African cinema in the light of the Nollywood phenomenon.
What is African cinema? This question raises a lot of posers. Is African cinema by Africans including those outside Africa? Is African cinema based on Afrocentric stories and settings? Is African cinema according to “St.funders?”
Some have classified it according to the four linguo-political groupings of Anglophone, Francophone, Arabophone and Lusophone for want of a central unifying theme to qualify as African cinema.
Is it the Eurocentric stereotype of Tarzan or The gods must be crazy? There are as many answers as there questions on this issue.
For me African cinema is that cinema by Africans for Africans, which cuts across the socio-cultural boundaries of the continent, defying all artificial geographical and political barriers capturing the essence of the African tales by moonlight with themes which know no colour, language, or nationality but which by themselves are a reflection in the mind of the individual of his own experiences and environment. This is what Nollywood has come to represent on the continent and beyond. This is the raison d’etre of its monumental success across the continent and beyond in spite of the so-called mediocre standards of its production quality.
The Nollywood phenomenon
At the very heart of the Nollywood phenomenon is a concept in African philosophy called ontological solidarity, where the strength of one is derived from the group. Modern management calls it synergy. I suspect the concept was borrowed from Africa but as usual we have not been credited.
When the industry started, the early players did not have money, only a burning passion to tell their tales this time not by moonlight but by kleiglights. The African concept of “we till your farm today, tomorrow you all till mine” helped push many dreams through.
On matters of standards, Nollywood has taught the rest of Africa that the man with the word processor and the man with the pencil are both writers and that if you tell a compelling enough story with your pencil, people will ultimately reckon with you. Before now on the rest of the continent, in many countries, not more than two films were shot averagely in a year, and usually by the same people who would wait in some cases for up to two years for a grant application to be approved by gate-keepers who determine the kinds of stories emerging from the film makers. It is no wonder therefore that although they may make waves in foreign film festival circuits, these films usually did not make sense to the ordinary African and they are usually a financial failure, thus precipitating a vicious circle of dependency syndrome.
Nollywood has come to shatter the myth that one must have a multimillion dollar budget to shoot a film. It has demonstrated creativity in its production and distribution strategies: unique only to it and very effective in its environment. The success of the Nollywood model attracted first the jeer, and now the cheer of the rest of the world because of its independent and creative home grown strategy of developing its industry. Today American movies have lost their dominance. In most African homes, street side theatres, hotel rooms and television stations, Nollywood has taken over. Africa Magic the Trans-African movie channel is proof enough. There is a cultural neo-colonisation of the African continent by Nollywood films. People now speak Ibo words and Pidgin English in far-off places like South Africa as a result of this. It is now hip to shout Igwe!!!
The rest of Africa and indeed the world can now see through these movies, opulence never before imagined in a third world country. There is now a paradigm shift from the perception of Africa as a derelict jungle, with monkeys and malnourished children to a destination both for tourism and business.
People have often argued that distribution is the bane of Nollywood. They argue that we need to go to the cinemas before we can start making real money. They forget that movies like music can either be sold on the streets for private enjoyment or enjoyed in night clubs or theatres. For the African, the theatre is not a part of our culture. We do not go to the theatre to watch performances as entertainment or as a habit. Performances are a ritual, for ceremonial purposes and festivals. Travelling theatres like the Alarinjo are just that! They pull the crowds as they move from place to place. If they were like western companies that run plays for months in places like Broadway, they would be out of business before they even take off.
VICTOR OKHAI –
