THE PRODUCTION SCENARIO IN THE NIGERIAN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY

Nigerian films are severally criticised has having low aesthetic values. When compared with the film of the developed world and other developing nations such as India, China, Nigerian video films can be said to be “aesthetically immature or inadequate”.

Helen Muchimba in an article titled: “Nigerian film lights Zambia’s Screen”, published in BBC Focus on Africa Magazine and also published on the BBC News Website identified that “Nollywood films are packed with simple but dramatic storylines…the stories tend to be quite simple but very dramatic and heavy on the emotions and somewhat stereotypical”. However, this prowess is often overshadowed by technical irregularities, unforgivably obvious artistic violations of cinematographic and filmic aesthetic conventions.

In addition the Wikipedia posits that “Nollywood (Nigerian video films) have trite plots, poor dialogue, and poor production values, and are stereotypical (some worry that the prevalence of witchcraft and violence in the movies may encourage the worst stereotypes about Africans).” It is typical to find just one Nollywood video film out of twenty that can survive the judgements of many film critics such as the renowned filmmaker Ola Balogun and Eddie Ugbomah. The situation is so dire that the National Film Video Censor’s Board (NFVCB) came up with a list technical problems which Nollywood videographers should avoid in their works; the NFVCB was prompted to publish the list on their website because it had observed that most of the movies produced in Nigeria keep recurring with these problems. Below some items on the list, which constitute these aesthetic misdeeds, will be explained.

A. Use of foul/vulgar language
Unlike many Hollywood films that are couched in very sophisticated language and occasional poetry. Many Nollywood video films make use of unpolished, foul and vulgar language. This is a result of the fact that most of the films are not properly scripted and are shot straight from improvisational acting and role playing, a situation in which actors use words the way it best occur to them.

B. Extraneous background noise or interferences
It is very difficult to find video films that do not have noise interfering with the dialogue of the actors, the film’s audio has noise either from the generator being used to power the shooting equipment or from the neighbourhood of the film’s location. It is almost a norm to hear extraneous noise filtering into the actual film’s sound.

C. Low Audio
Coupled with the problem of extraneous noise and interferences is the subject of low audio quality. Usually the film score or soundtrack is louder and clearer than the actual film dialogue in many Nollywood works; many examples of works with this deficiency abound.

D. Music conflicting with dialogue
This problem is closely linked with the above identified problems. In many Nigerian films film music is at war with the film dialogue such that it is the music that overrides the dialogue.

E. Non-crediting of music used in the work
Sometimes the music (songs, tunes etc) that is used for the film other than those composed, performed and processed for the film is not credited.

F. Spelling errors
It is mundane to find spelling errors in the title of films, in the opening and closing ending credits and in subtitles. This is a lack of finesse and excellence.

H. Editing problems
In many films cuts, fades, dissolves etc are used unjustifiably, and it is so annoying to see the editors of these bad movies indicate (NSE) in front of their names on the credits list, I wonder what the acronym means.

I. Poor picture quality
It is needless to say that the picture quality of many Nigerian films can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those from India let alone Hollywood because a lot of them feature very poor pictures terribly captured. I saw recently a Nigerian film on Africa Magic, DSTV in which the frame was shaking, a typical pointer to the fact that a tripod was not used during the movie’s filming. Also dull, dark and blurred pictures abound problems that are resultant of the lack of proper balancing of the camera.

J. Use of lengthy and unnecessary flashbacks and scenes
This is very common with Yoruba films; I believe this is done with the intent of filling up the tape time. In the name in flashback, many scenes are repeated which the spectator has seen earlier in the film.

K. Incomplete Storylines
It is common to have stories that are presented in parts. The two part movies are marketers favourite. Some films have storylines that are not completed in the first tape necessitating a second tape usually the conclusion of the story that began in the first tape, meanwhile there are films in which the story is not completed but the plot was deviated mid way.

L. Shot Composition problems
Some filmmakers- directors and cinematographer-in Nollywood do not understand how the film camera works and thus it is very common to see lapses. As Tunde Kelani puts it “it is the audience that now make the films for their own viewing”.

M. Indecent Exposure
“Sex sells” and this phrase has been the stimuli for the abundant inclusion of indecency in many video films. It is very common to see actresses dress outrageous- exhibiting the “salient” parts of their bodies (flaunting).Such films are DANGEROUS GAMES I and II, COMPUTER GIRLS, ABUJA BIG GIRLS, DOMITILLA etc are common example of films with abundance vulgar exposures.
N. Excessive brutality
There is excessive brutality in Nigerian films, a trend that has given Nigeria the reputation of a violent country with many foreigners who are Nollywood fans. As Onyero Mgbejume puts it “home video programme producers always want to excel competitors with lots of action in their production in order to sell their works; this had led them to exploit themes and storylines with: lot of blood letting, lot of murder, lot of suggestive sex, lot of pornography, lot of brutality, lot of occultism, lot of witchcraft, lot of robbery and lot of ritual killing…”[NFI,2001]. Many works based on the above has been done including LIVING IN BONDAGE (1992), ISSAKABA (2002), THE BIG BOYS CLUB (2005), RITUALS (1998), DOMITILLA (Zeb Ejiro,1996). It is not as if these stories are untrue infact there are many incidents in society involving such but the problem is that they are now a stereotype.

O. The recycling of stars and the star system
It is common to have the exact same set of actors who star in a Teco Benson’s movie star in a Chico Ejiro movie or another work by Teco Benson and another after that and playing in the same exact roles with minute changes. It is so bad that directors and film marketers who fund the films fight over actors as in the case of Emeka Ike and others.[Tribune Online,2005]

P. Excessive promo of films in other films
The average Nollywood video film features at least ten (10) minutes of the promotion of other films on its tape. This is too much as it bores the audience.

Q. Stereotypism
Many Nigerian films are similar in plot such that the average spectator can predict the eventual dénouement of the plot. A typical story about prostitution would feature a lady or a girl who is either raped as a child and as a result loses her will and becomes a whore for sexual satisfaction, rolling with all sought of men until the Mr Right, usually a fine and rich young man, appears and saves her or a girl (an orphan) who is maltreated by her relative and has to vend for herself and as a result becomes a prostitute until rescue comes in the form of a fine, bright and rich young man. Many other types of stereotypes abound including wealthy a chief whose affluence is as a result of their membership of a money ritual cult and starts to have problems upon overstepping the bound set for him by the cult etc. Other aesthetic flaws include continuity problems, misrepresentation of our culture and institutions, lengthy and unnecessary scenes.

These flaws are a result of the fact that many film directors in the Nigerian film industry are neither trained for the jobs nor educated in the art of filmmaking. There are very few auteurs in the industry. A lot of the film directors are in the trade because it is the “in-thing” to do.

Consequently, the excessive control of the movie marketers on the content of the works aids this imperfection. According to practitioners in the industry, the marketers who fund the film productions are asserting their authority on the director and over his artistic creation. Aside from choosing stories, it has been confirmed that they select the actors to appear in the movies and the number of days in which the film must be shoot and ready for exhibition. A situation critics has blamed for not allowing the best to come from the directors.

Adenugba, Olushola Oladele,

March,2006

Ibadan

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

In recent times, the argument that the Nigerian video film industry, Nollywood is the third largest movie industry in the world in terms of art and business is fast gaining ground. Although, this affirmation seems very untrue and an over estimation, it is however a statement of fact. Owing to the state of cinema and filmmaking in Africa currently. The combination of high costs and a Western stranglehold on funding and the unavailability of the cinematographic technology in Black Africa is making many young directors in Africa rely on cheaper, often more versatile digital methods both for production (shooting) and exhibition. In the light of these reality where digital video is a fount of hope (Knight and Manson,2005) Nollywood is indeed the third largest movie tradition in the world in terms of its comparative digital edge and also when the number of “flicks” which is turned out annually from the industry is considered a most recent survey conducted by Spectrum Television Media indicated that about four thousand (4,000) home video films are released by Nigerian filmmakers, an average of ten (10) movies per day; 2,000 of which are censored. The continued growth of the industry and the high volume of video films produced is occasioned by a number of factors which would enunciated.

Film is popular culture, just so, the Nigerian home video has come into prominence as a form of entertainment both in Nigeria, on the African continent and indeed the world. Film has visual bias, which gives it universal acceptance, appeal and impact. People the world over enjoy watching cinema, just like music, TV or radio, they have naturally come to appreciate and embrace it. Today, to Nigerians and Africans both on the continent and in the Diaspora, Nollywood is as important as Hollywood or Bollywood.
Nollywood is a purveyor of culture. Film helps to preserve the culture of a people, ethnicity or race from eroding away and this is a focus of implementation of the National policy on Film in Nigeria, Article 4 (3) c, which states that “film will be produced to protect and promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and our national aspirations in the process of development”(Nigeria Cultural Policy, 1991) Nigerian video films portray the ways of life of the average Nigerian in the daily struggle for survival, shows our belief systems, contemporary as well as ancient culture. People especially those abroad want to be abreast with issues and happenings in the society as well as relax; they turn to the industry, there are major Nigerian video film marketers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

Convenience, in a society where the cinema culture is unavailable, home viewing has becomes the norm, saving grace. Prior to the 1990s Nigeria had a very rich film culture. There were professional filmmakers who shot with celluloid such as Ola Balogun, Eddy Ugbomah, Ladi Ladebo. And there were cinema houses where the works were exhibited. However, inadequate funding and the utter neglect of film as a tool for social cohesion, mass mobilisation and education by the government, the non-existence of valid and appropriate film policy and laws and the rise of Pentecostalism and Churches led to the death of the then thriving industry. The advent of an unfavourable economic climate, the proliferation of the Nigerian film market with foreign films which came in VHS format and cineprint and also the decline in education which gave birth to the now very popular Area (Agbero) Boys Syndrome who made cinema houses around the country their hangouts also aided the collapse of that industry. Today it is convenient for people to sit in the comfort of their homes, houses, offices with their friends or family, slot in a video cassette into the VCR player or place a DVD in a Digital Video Disc player and watch Nigerian video films without the threat of harassment from an Agbero Boy or an Area Boy Gang which was in case in the 1980s when cinema thrived. The slump in education in the country in the mid 1980s and early 1990s saw students dropping out of schools and taking to vices. The cinema houses became a haven to this new school of “NFAs” (No Future Ambitions) and Wanna-Be Vagabonds who became masters in extortion, rape, torture, thuggery and thefts at the cinema and in society. Some movie goers were attacked, raped, tortured, and harassed or were even arrested at the cinema by the Police during raids. These events were happening simultaneously in different parts of the country thus the cinema culture declined. Unlike the cinema, which is very expensive to produce and exhibit video films are very easy to package, exhibit and distribute hence a reason why fewer and fewer African movies are premiered or featured at International Film festival. Filmmaking with the analogue celluloid machine costs a whole lot of money, the cost of producing a full length 35mm feature film at three hundred thousand Pounds (E300,000) while a 120m roll of 35mm celluloid film costs one hundred and twenty Pounds ( E125) and around 150 rolls will be required to shoot a 90-minute film before editing. This put celluloid reel cost at around E20,000.00 .For each cinema hall that the film plays at simultaneously , a separate print- a copy of the film- will be required at a cost of E5,000.00. (Knight and Manson,2005) With these heavy costs there is little or no guarantee that the heavy investment expended on the movie will be realised from its exhibition. But with video the technology for production is apparently available and accessible to the Nigerian filmmaker. Additionally thousands of copies of his work can be sold quiet easily upon its release.
The videodiscs and videocassettes of the movies are cheap to buy; new releases are sold for N350.00 ($2.50) and the technology for exhibition is within the reach of most Nigerians. Also, the content of the video films are in local dialect and are often subtitled when not in common language. This is another reason why the industry is booming.
Consequently the advancement of the industry can be attributed to the adoption of video films as an aspect of programming on local television stations, cable television networks and even on some satellite television. There are channels on Cable and Satellite that are entirely dedicated to showing Nigerian movies; they include Yotomi, AfricaMagic on DSTV, Nollywood on Trend TV Network etc. Furthermore, the industry provides employment and contributes to the nation’s economic index. Film, like Theatre is a melting point of all the arts of painting, costumes, writing (drama, poetry and prose), acting, directing, producing, photography etc. Film is the biggest art form and a lot of people find employment in the industry as actors, designers, stunt personnel or crew. A notable Yoruba film producer says about N100 Million goes into film production in Nigerian film industry monthly that is, about N1.2 Billion annually (Ayorinde,2004) in 2004 a survey by the Guardian Newspaper put the value of the industry at N4 Billion naira. This is in the upstream sector of the industry, while in the downstream sector, a lot of people are employed as marketers, video club owners, video club attendants etc. The success of the “Iweka Road” distributors and marketers and the “Alaba Boys” is due to the boom of the industry.
Nonetheless, the Nigerian video film industry is bedevilled by problems, which prevent the industry from taking its place of prominence amongst the important film industries of the world. Such problems include the lack of an organised structure, the shield of secrecy and the invasion of charlatans into the industry.

The lack of an organised structure is another problem impeding the growth of the industry. There are no proper records on productions in the Nigerian film industry. No information about how much it costs to produce a movie, no statistics on audience, marketers and no accurate data on the volume of sales per movie etc. Also there is no clear cut demarcation between those who are producers, those who are actors, those who are directors, cameraman, film crew, designers etc and also there are no codes of conduct guiding the practice of film. It is common to see an actor in virtually all the movies that are released in the year and a producer or a director can take up to fifty (50) projects in a year. Meanwhile in India’s Bollywood and the United States there are limits to the number of films an actor can star in in a year and also how many projects a producer can take up in a year. The film industry itself is shielded in secrecy. Nobody knows who gets paid what, nobody can say exactly how much it costs to produce a particular home video in Nigeria whereas such information are open and easily accessible overseas. This lack of openness has led to serious bottleneck in securing sponsorship from corporate bodies (Ayorinde,2004) that refuses to give support to the industry. Also the industry’s development is inhibited by poor film technological know-how and the activities of charlatans in the words of popular Nigerian film actor Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) who do not know the ropes and churn out movies that are substandard, movies with poor story structure and defective technical quality. [Punch,2005] The “man- must-wack-syndrome” is seriously affecting the structure of the industry.


Adenugba Olushola,
March,2005
Ibadan

NOLLYWOOD: A NAME AND AN INDUSTRY

There has been a lot of contention about the term “Nollywood”. A lot of Nigeria’s first generation and second generation filmmakers refuse to be associated with the name that has been christened the Nigerian video-film industry for reasons that are obvious, they do not want to be identified with videography which is the bane of the industry and the mediocrity that is pervading the industry. Amidst this controversy a number of renowned film critics both within and outside the country have expressed their opinions on the issue, notable amongst them are Jonathan Haynes; a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer in the Departments of English and Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan and author of many books on the Nigerian video/film industry who said that “it appears that the term “Nollywood” has come to stay” (Haynes, 2003); and Hon. Tunde Oladunjoye. The term is used in many quarters by journalists, filmmakers and even consumers of the Nigerian video/film industry. According to Tunde Oladunjoye, the term covers the totality of Nigerian films: celluloid, home video, short films, documentaries, film literatures, training projects, equipment and capacity building of the industry and its highly secretive professionals not just the home video alone (Oladunjoye,2004). Likewise, it tends to cover the diversity of Nigerian video film production in the same way that “Bollywood” covers the production of Indian films in Tamil, Bengali, Telegu and other languages besides Hindi in other parts of that huge country. “Nollywood” covers Nigerian films in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and English, although it is speculated that the Hausa filmmakers are trying to separate themselves by adopting the terms “Kanywood” and “Kallywood”.

There are however many objections to the term “Nollywood” which Jonathan Haynes isolated in an article titled “Nollywood: What is in a Name?" published in the Guardian Newspaper of Sunday 3rd July, 2005”. One of such reactions states that the term implies that Nollywood is an imitation of Hollywood and Bollywood rather than something in itself, something original and uniquely African. Many are opposed to the appellation because, according to them, it is a form of neo-colonialisation, another Western propaganda. They wonder why the only film culture that has built itself by itself must be labelled after Hollywood. A bulk of those who share this view are in the Yoruba filmmakers.

The term is refused by many in the filmmakers as a general name for the Nigerian motion picture/ video film industry. It is claimed that the name is developed along tribal lines, “the Nollywood” as the industry is called amongst its opponents is dominated by Igbos, so it is a case of “let them bask in the euphoria of their “wood” why we will stay the way we are: Yoruba film makers, English film makers and so on.” To this Haynes asserts that, rather than refusing the term as a valid name for the Nigerian motion picture/ video film industry, the critics of the term should observe that we live in a multipolar world, where the old patterns of cultural imperialism have changed and viewers have a much greater choice of the media they consume, especially as the customers of the Nigerian video film industry have embraced the name.

He further identifies the other antagonism to the term “Nollywood” as the claim that it was invented by a foreigner. However, the inventor of the name is uncertain though it is claimed that Matt Steinglass in the New York Times first used it in 2002 to describe the growing Nigerian industry. But Haynes was quick to counter this objection by calling the attention of the critics to the coining of the name “ Nigeria” by Lord Lugard’s girlfriend and the naming of America after Amerigo Vespucci, a fifteenth –century Italian of no particular importance (Haynes,2003). As a matter of fact the origin of the nomenclature is a source of argument amongst scholars. While some believe it was Matt Steinglass who invented the name, others maintain that it was Nick Moran, a BBC Reporter, who was in Nigeria to do a documentary on the “get rich –quick-video” that came up with it.

I believe that the argument should not be about the name but about how well the industry has fared, rising up from the demise and troubles of the first era of cinema in Nigeria. Although nothing seems wrong with and in the term “Nollywood”. It looks like an effective branding for the Nigerian video/film industry, which is taking it toll after America’s Hollywood and India’s Bollywood. The name captures the essence of the industry and places it in perspective in terms of its competition and contemporariness with Hollywood and Bollywood even though there is still much to be done. Nonetheless it is not yet time to bring the issue to a close because the debate has just begun.

In spite of the controversies surrounding its name the Nigerian film industry is a force to be reckoned with because it neatly expresses powerful aspirations by people in the video film industry and by their fans to have a big, glamorous entertainment industry that can take its place on the world scene and appeal to international audiences.

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGERIAN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY

The history and development of the development of the Nigerian motion picture industry can be divided into two main parts: (i) the Colonial Era till the 1980s and (ii) the 1980s till date.

The Colonial Era till The 1980s
According to previous research and findings, Nigeria’s first contact with cinema was in 1903. It was at the instance of Herbert Macaulay, a foremost nationalist who invited the Balboa and Company who was then doing an exhibition tour of silent films on the West African Coast to Nigeria. The films were shown at the Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos in August, 1903.
The success of the Balboa venture paved the way for an influx of European film exhibitors to Nigeria (Ekwuasi, 1984: 9). Shortly the colonial government took interest and brought in a lot of films (Itam, 2000:32).According to Ekwuasi (1984) film production, distribution and exhibition was restricted to Lagos where they compete with concerts and drama shows and the contents of such movies were highly censored. Gradually, however it fanned out to towns in the immediate hinterland of Lagos and beyond it. As the country became more industrialised and urbanised, there was a need to establish distribution/ exhibition centres in these new areas and in no time, the branches of the distribution and exhibition companies had spread all over the country( Nweke,1995).

The colonial government did not fully practice in the film business until the commencement of the World War II with the establishment of the Colonial Film Unit (CFU). The unit was charged with making films for the colonies and the objectives of the films were: first, to show/convince the colonies that they and the English had a common enemy in the Germans; to this end, about a quarter of all the films made by the CFU were war-related. Second, to enhance communal development in the colonies. Third, to show the outside world the excellent work being done in the colonies. [Ekwuasi, 1991:2].The CFU was the main producer of films in colony and was funded through the Colonial Development Welfare Act. The CFU made propaganda films. The unit acquired films and showed them to the people. All the films were to help the spread of British imperialism (Rosaleen, 1981:5 in Ekwueme, 2000). There were two main approaches to production at this time; the affirmation of the coloniser’s culture as better and the negation or mockery of the colonised culture. Films like A NEW FIRE BOMB and THE BRITISH ARMY reflected the mighty power of the colonialists while films such as TARZAN OF THE APES showed Africans as inferiors who needed to be led around by the colonialists. Hyginus Ekwuasi condemns this approach; he submitted that the ideological practice of the CFU films was the “glorification of the coloniser” [Ekwuasi 1987:26].

With the attainment of independence, the Colonial Film Unit (CFU) became the Federal Film Unit (FFU). But the Federal Film Unit (FFU) still retained most of the functions of the Colonial Film Unit which were the production of film about the country also private individuals began to produce and exhibit feature films. However the searchlight had shifted from colonialism and the need for independence to the need to restrict neo-colonialism. Black became beautiful, a thing to be explored and enjoyed and the colonialists came to be seen as rapists of the rich culture of Nigeria and indeed Africa. Novelists like Chinua Achebe emerged and used creative writing to show the colonialists as disrupters of a noble and pure indigenous culture.
The primary function of the Federal Film Unit was the production of documentaries. These documentaries were funded by the government and sometimes international organisations like UNICEF. The foreign film distributors and exhibitors succeeded in turning attention from the documentaries to themselves. Their cinema houses were filled to the brim with eager viewers and for a long time they made a lot of profit. Meanwhile Nigerians became involved in the production of films and by 1970, the first indigenous feature film was produced in Nigeria: KONGI’S HARVEST. It was however directed by an American and it featured many foreigners as crew members. With the oil boom, more individuals became involved in the production of indigenous films include Eddie Ugbomah, Ladi Ladebo, Ola Balogun,U.S.A Galadima among other who had been trained during the CFU era. According to Rosemary Itam, the Yoruba Travelling Theatre practitioners, seeing how successful the foreign film distributors and exhibitors were[Itam,2002:34] and motivated by their audiences’ demand to do their stage plays to film [Malomo,1993] decided to produce their own movies. Working with some of the already popular Nigerian filmmakers such as Ola Balogun and others, the Alarinjo theatre troupes made films include AROPIN TENIA, JAIYESIMI, IJA OMINIRA, IJA OMIRAN, OWO L’GBA etc all on 35mm celluloid reel.

Apart from the fact that the viewing public were hooked to foreign films, they had problems in the procurement of equipment, manpower, piracy and ultimately in marketing. This killed the zeal of these new-comers to filmmaking. In 1979, the Nigerian Film Corporation was established to provide structural backbone for the development of the industry in terms of manpower training, marketing assistance and infrastructure. A decree validating its existence was released by the government and a facility was allotted to it in Jos, Plateau State but it did not help the industry much. Years later a National Film Policy was also put in motion. Neither did this save the ailing industry from it problems and by the mid 1980s it was nearly impossible for films to be made on celluloid. Film stocks were expensive to import, and celluloid was expensive to process. Rushes had to be taken abroad for development and other processing coupled with it was the harsh economic scenario in the country, thus many filmmakers opted for the use of video tapes as it was more economical; easily accessible and inexpensive to editing unlike the celluloid.

The 1980s till Date
According to Akin Adesokan, the Video film “grew out of benign bootlegging of music videos in a cassette culture…cannibalising the idioms of the soap opera, Yoruba travelling theatre, and remnants from the golden era of the Nigerian cinema”.[Adesokan, Nollywood.net, 2005] By the end of the 1980s, Video films had become the strongest technological medium of popular culture and entertainment in Yoruba urban centres. First to realise its immense social and economic potentials were the popular musicians, then some television stations followed realising how popular the drama series they sponsored had become, they transferred them to video. Owing to the fact that video cameras were very cheap and easy to carry and control would-be filmmakers found a ready medium to work with. With this state actors can be called together and rallied to act out a story in imitation in the manner of the vanishing theatre tradition and thus everybody was back in business [Jonathan Haynes, 1990:50].
The appearance of video films in Nigeria, plus its popularity, point to its importance as a new medium for the production, dissemination and consumption of film as a form of popular culture, with its ideology and aesthetics [Ekwueme,2002] The idea of video films was inspired by Yoruba Travelling Theatre. The idea was later introduced by Babatunde Adelusi (Adamson) publisher of a now rested photo-play Magazine who said that the production of video films will not only save cost of production but will be a good alternative to Indian and Chinese films. This idea was later actualised by Ade Ajiboye (Big Abass) who produced SOSO MEJI, the first Nigerian Video film in 1988. It was shown publicly at Tinuade Cinema in Oworonshoki, Lagos for a token fee and it was successful. Subsequently, Alade Aromire produced EKUN in 1989 which he screened at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. The success of the movies was an eye opener for other producers. Hence many Yoruba movie actors and enthusiasts mostly based in Meiran, a Lagos suburb sought assistance from film promoters like Kenneth Nnebue of Nek Video Link, Lagos and Sulaimon Aweda who were both important film distributors and exhibitors. Kenneth Nnebue, capitalising on the gains of the industry, decided to invest in a lot of low budget video films. Such video films include AJE NI IYA MI, IJA ELEYE, OSA ELEYE etc.

The development did not go down well with the new school of “video filmmakers” who termed his investments as peanuts. They left and organise themselves. Jide Kosoko, Adebayo Salami, Gbenga Adewusi and Alade Aromire led them, [Ekwueme, 2002:34] this regrouping resulted in the appearance of different production companies including Bayowa Films International, Aromire Films, Jide Kosoko Production and many others. Films began to be produced in large volumes and with film marketers and distributors setting up offices and distribution outlets in Idumota, Lagos, the industry took off.
Video film in Igbo language was silent until the latter part of 1992, when Kenneth Nnebue produced the first Igbo Video film in the country, LIVING IN BONDAGE which became a major hit among the Igbo audience and was also well accepted by non-Igbo speaking audience. Other Igbo video films followed, Igbo films were produced in either Igbo or English languages. Video films like TABOO I and II by Dan Oluigbo of Sage Production. JEZEBEL by Francis Agu, Amaka Igwe-Isaac’s RATTLESNAKE I and II, VIOLATED I and II and many others were produced. By the 1992, a new crop of professional filmmakers have emerged from the Eastern and other parts of the country. Virtually unknown on stage before their début into the Nigerian film industry most of them have produced or acted in serials for television notably Zeb Ejiro, Kenneth Okonkwo and Amaka Igwe-Isaac. With the massive entry of Igbo and English video films, the producers of Yoruba video films who had hitherto monopolised the business faced a though competition and as a result a vibrant industry was created.
Moreover, there has also been the production of Nigerian video films in minor languages such as Efik, Ijaw and Itshekiri. Nigerians abroad are also producing films for Nigerians in the Diaspora such include KING OF MY COUNTRY, LONDON BOY. Video films are also produced in Hausa language, the centre of which is in Kano, Nigeria.

Today, video film production is a multi-billion naira industry which provides a source of livelihood for many people both at home and abroad. The industry has also produced many “stars” as well as its own international events. Initially, when the video film came into existence some actors were not well remunerated but currently the appearance of actors like Pete Edochie, Fathia Balogun, Liz Benson, Omotola Jalade- Ekeinde, Racheal Oniga, Bukky Wright, Bukky Ajayi, Nkem Owoh, Ramsey Noah, Desmond Elliott, Genevieve Nnaji, Kayode Fash-Lanso, Patience and others; in a video film guarantees good box office success. The African movies Academy Awards has been holding in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state since 2004. As Kenneth Ekwueme pointed out in his essay- The Negative Influence of Nigerian Video films on the Youth the “possibilities are endless”.

MOTION PICTURE AND THE NIGERIAN IMAGE

The Nigerian motion picture industry popularly called Nollywood is undoubtedly the third largest film culture and industry in the world, following closely behind USA’s Hollywood and India’s Bollywood. The largely direct-to-video industry; because there are very few producers who work in celluloid,1 has grown from obscurity to become an important phenomenon attracting not only worldwide acclaim but also bringing scholars, reporters, reviewers, journalists, investors and what have you to the country. Such people, who come to either investigate, invest, observe the industry or network with its people. An interesting thing about the industry is its resilience in the face of harsh economic indices, favouritism, nepotism, inadequate and sometimes non-existence infrastructure, the industry has grown and has consistently told the story2 of the Nigerian state, society and people.

Film is popular culture and as expected, it must exhibit, play upon, mirrorize, recreate, or retell the stories of the societies in which it subsists. The Nigerian film industry is no exception, it has been able to portray an image of the Nigerian society or in other terms the image of the Nigerian people and state, which as a matter of fact is the reason why the Nigerian motion picture industry has been a beehive of activities – research, investments, visits and so on. Over the years, the industry has promoted certain identities and images about the country which in a way has helped to boost the country’s reputation.
The Nigerian motion picture industry is an image maker for the Nigerian state. For one, Nollywood has been able to shoot up the socio-economic profile of the country especially during an era in which the nation was notorious for military coups and political instability. The production of films in the military epoch which explores the lives of Nigerians shows to the world that Nigerians are innovative, creative and balanced irrespective of the social upheavals in the country which also negated the bad image been generated in the international press about the nation. Second, the Nigerian motion picture industry has helped to change the perception of the rest of the world about Nigeria and indeed the whole of Africa through the films produced. Many people outside the continent and especially those who have not set their foot on it have come to understand that Nigerians and Africans do not live on trees or work about naked as had been speculated previously nor are we bloodthirsty and cruel but are just like other people of the world who could be bad, good, greedy, nice because people are people regardless of their nationality and location. Third, in the light of its optimization of digital technology, the industry has positioned Nigeria as a basket of talents because Nigerian motion picture is the only film culture in the world that has been able to build an industry based largely on digital video technology and this is a prestigious status in the third world cinema and even in world cinema. The capitalization of Nigerian filmmakers on digital technology has turned Nigeria into a bastion and a force to reckon with in global filmmaking, a scenario that has improved the image of the nation by creating an opportunity for Nigerian filmmakers to tell our own stories without fear, favour or prejudice. For so long films were made in Africa but not by Africans but by foreigners, Nigerian motion picture has reversed the situation bringing good acclaim and favourable recognition to Nigeria. There are a good number of international film events holding around the world and in Nigeria which recognizes Nollywood, its practitioners and the nation. Among which are AMAA (Africa Movie Academy Awards) whose second edition was held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state last April, Afro Hollywood Awards which would has been holding since 1996, the next edition is scheduled to hold this September in Lagos and it is designed to hosted in collaboration with the London Film Institute. There is also the Annual Lagos International Film Forum being hosted by ITPAN (Independent Television Producers’ Association of Nigeria), The Best of The Best Television (BOBTV), The Zuma Film Festival and so on. Events which are increasing the nation’s reputation as well as boost the morale of the masses. Nigerians are very passionate about it development. As the popular television show hostess and producer, Agatha Amata once noted on an episode of her very successful TV show ‘Inside Out’ which features a discourse on the Nigerian film industry she said and I quote3:
“I showed off to my friends in London during my last summer visit, we were watching a home video from Nigeria; they were astonished at the elaborateness of the architecture of the film’s set: the houses and the cars used; the sheer display of glamour. They said this cannot be real, it must be some studio, I laughed boasting about it and I told them that is how we live in Nigeria.”

The industry is regarded by many as an indicator of our nation’s growth and development, a signage of Nigeria’s advancement. The motion picture in no small regard has spread the nation’s good to the world and there is a global fever to be a part of it, notably from the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

Fourth, the industry has shown to the world that our nation is undeniably the giant of Africa.As a BBC World Report once mentioned the Nigerian film industry

“Has turned the lights on in Africa cinema”
Nollywood is what is on air in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and many countries in Africa. Jonathan Haynes elucidated in his paper “Nollywood: What is in a name?” Nigerian films are everywhere,
“Nollywood films are purchased and watched by Chinese in New York, Jamaicans identify with Nollywood stars on the streets of London, they are what is on air in Tanzania... and they are also the major offering of DSTV AfricaMagic Channel”

Invariably many want to copy the Nigeria example this is mainly because the industry has helped the nation to grow and it is the trailblazer in third world cinema.

Over the years, the industry has promoted certain identities and images which critics have frowned at, among these are-the image of a ritualistic society, the image of a violent society, the poor portrayal of the Nigerian women and a display of an highly ostentious and an oligarchic society. Imageries and ideas that have to a great extent become a norm, because profiteering has replaced art, as a critic stated in one of the national dailies recently,
“Nollywood is a disappointment (story caption), movies should be socio-cultural development tools if well crafted. Not so with our Nollywood movies, which carry boring storylines, portraying low intellectualism and technical unprofessionalism. The same artistes are featured in virtually every movie. Nollywood is a industry with a large size but with a minute relevant content” (Musa: Punch, Aug. 2006)
A good number of films produced in Nollywood are ritualistic, diabolique and frightening to say the least. A lot of stories are centred around a ritual that has to be performed, such often involving bloodshed and human sacrifice. ONE CHANCE (2006), ABUJA BIG GIRLS I,II AND III( 2005), THE BILLIONAIRES’ CLUB I AND II (2005), BLOOD MONEY(2004), DOMITILLA(2001) AND ALASE AYE I AND II (2006) are examples that come to mind. Film stories such as these have flourished since the early days of video film production in Nigeria taking impulse from the monster-hit “LIVING IN BONDAGE I AND II” (KENNETH NNEBUE, 1991 AND 1992). Although movies with this theme(s) or stories explores and exposes events that happens in the country on a regular basis, they also exaggerate and at best have turned many persons into cynics who believe that every other person is out to harm them and because films shape society and help orientate the people while also entertaining them, the films have subtlely encouraged people to engage in such amoral and vile activities because they encounter it in film after film that ritual money, consulting mediums and performing sacrifices is an alternative to solving their problems especially financial problems. Nonetheless, I cannot overtly heap the blame on the films because people would do what they want to do irrespective of whether the films and their stories catalyses this or not. Because Nigerian films are everywhere, some of the audiences watching Nollywood films all over the world has conceived of Nigeria as a nation and society of people that are very ritualistic; a ‘voo-doo-lised’ people who at will would use fellow human especially close associates and relations for rituals either for money or power.
Closely stringed with the image of a ritualized nation is the image of a violent and very brutal society, which the recent series of kidnaps by militants in the oil rich South-South and its subsequent bad publicity in the International media has not helped. There is a lot of domestic violent in many Nigeria films and this is displayed as a major attraction in the films, as Onyero Mbengeru retraced in a paper at a Nigeria Film Institute/UNESCO Workshop on the Nigerian motion picture in 1997

“There is a lot of violence…in the Nigerian video film”.

It is mundane to see close relatives maltreat and assault one another; sister pimps sisters, cousins kill their cousins, fathers and sons scheme each other for material gains, step wives and in-laws deal ruthlessly with their rivals’ children and daughters in-law. There is a rich display of brutality and wickedness in the Nigerian motion picture in fact some actors excel at playing the role of the wicked character such include Clarion Chukwura, Eucharia Anunobi and the undefeatable Patience Osokwo. Movies with good doses of violence include THE UNFAILING GRACE (2005), VIOLATED (1993), RATTLESNAKE I, II AND III (1991), ISSAKABA (2004). These films include sequence of violent action notably rape, child maltreatment, mishandling of minors, bloodshed, killings, arson, prostitution and a host of other vices. The uninteresting consequence of this is that it is showing the wrong example for the society to imbibe. Although sometimes the plot ends with the wicked being punished but the continued portrayal of films with themes that revolve around violent events, mistrusts, betrayal and the recent killings in the political arena in the country situates our beloved nation of very peace-loving folks who would not take up arms even when suffered and heated in the furnace of tyranny, as a people who are very violent and usually aggressive. Recently, I was co-host to a team of American counsellors who came from Abilene Christian University (ACU) Texas for a series of marriage seminars tagged: Purpose, Passion and Purity Conference 2005 hosted by RCCG Christ Church, Gbagada, Lagos and a NGO, The Educator Nigeria in June this year. They expressed their fears about coming to Nigeria. They shared that the reports about Nigeria from CNN, Nigerian films and the Internet did not encourage them to come but they chose to come defiling those reports; on their departure they had a different story to shared in fact they promised to come back next year with more people.
Another issue that speak evil of the Nigerian image is the way women are treated and portrayed in Nigerian films, even though the Americans have made sex an aspect of film aesthetics, the way women are showcased in Nollywood films leaves much to be desired. Onookome Okome commented on this in his paper- Onome: Ethnicity, Class, Gender published in the book: Nigerian Video Film edited by Jonathan Haynes (1997). Scantily scalded ladies with seductive make-up and appeal adorn the poster and jacket of many films. As a matter of fact such form the popular content of many films4. Often the films would feature single girls who do not keep a single relationship but for fancy and greed would keep a school of lovers who furnishes their every need and whims, these ladies live life to the fullness on the bill of their boyfriends who soon discover their charm or juju and the many other men and as a result withdraw their patronage one after another leaving the girls with nothing. These ladies are usually prostitutes in the guise of working class ladies or socialites, and they are left with nothing. Usually the girls are portrayed as cruel, weird, stubborn and fun.
I should state at this juncture that I am not oblivious of the fact that these things happens in society but the films are supposed to preach against it and not glamorize it as the cool, fun way to live. Also I have heard the testimony of people lucky to have escape the clutches of ritual death via the “Otokoto” but I believe that film is as much about correcting vices in society as it is about reporting and documenting it. The latter is a function that the industry has not yet perfected and it is in doing it that they industry would reflect an appropriate image of Nigeria and inspire an aura of a peaceful stable, health and a coherent society to live in.


END NOTES
1 Amaka Igwe-Isaac, Tunde Kelani are some of the Nigerian filmmakers who make films in
Celluloid as well as in digital video.

2 Nigerian films feature stories that deal with events that happen in Nigerian.

3 Agatha Amata is the producer of Inside Out, an interactive TV talk show which is
currently running on many TV stations around the country.

4 Films with morbid and lewd contents are not uncommon in the Nigerian film industry.

CULTURE AS AN ASPECT OF FILM AESTHETIC

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, culture is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behaviour that is both a result of and integral to the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.

Culture thus consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies, and symbols. It has played a crucial role in human evolution, allowing human beings to adapt the environment to their own purposes rather than depend solely on natural selection to achieve adaptive success. Every human society has its own particular culture, or socio-cultural system. Variation among cultures is attributable to such factors as differing physical habitats and resources; the range of possibilities inherent in areas such as language, ritual, and social organization; and historical phenomena such as the development of links with other cultures. An individual's attitudes, values, ideals, and beliefs are greatly influenced by the culture (or cultures) in which he or she lives. Culture change takes place as a result of ecological, socioeconomic, political, religious, or other fundamental factors affecting a society. Culture is also described as the patterns of behaviour and thinking that people living in social groups learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals

Culture has several distinguishing characteristics. (1) It is based on symbols—abstract ways of referring to and understanding ideas, objects, feelings, or behaviours—and the ability to communicate with symbols using language. (2) Culture is shared. People in the same society share common behaviours and ways of thinking through culture. (3) Culture is learned. While people biologically inherit many physical traits and behavioural instincts, culture is socially inherited. A person must learn culture from other people in a society. (4) Culture is adaptive. People use culture to flexibly and quickly adjust to changes in the world around them. [Microsoft Encarta, 2004]

Culture is an essential aspect of film aesthetics, this is partly because film subsists in culture and also because is it made for an audience that has a culture, whether that audience is culturally inclined or not, as such films tends to reflect the culture or nuances of the philosophy of the society that produces it. Films from China, promotes the culture of that nation and its people, films from India reflects the music, dance, dressing and beliefs of that Eastern nation, movies from the United States of America highlight the values and patterns of daily life in that country, Nollywood movies uphold the ways of life and happenings in Nigeria. Films are cultural ambassadors of the society in which they are produced; film is an instrument of cultural proclamation. Each society tells it story. The cultural context of a film help explains where a filmmaker’s allegiance lies; whether to his culture or to sometime else other than a sense of belonging or inclination to his realm. Tunde Oladunjoye captures the essence of the role culture plays in societal development in an article published in The Guardian of Sunday, April 18,2004 titled “ Cannes Film Festival Knocks, Where Is Nigeria” in which he states:

“I am not aware of any nation that has been able to achieve development without proactive promotion of its essential cultural components. For example you cannot separate the culture of Japan from that country’s economic and technological achievement…..”[Oladunjoye, 2004]

Not only does culture facilitate development but it provides ample raw materials for the filmmaker to work with. Folklores, myths, fables, legends, folk music, folk dance, costume, folk architecture, ritual practices, kingship rites and other elements and aspects of culture, are ready materials that the filmmaker can explore, borrow, adapt or use vérité in his work. The film industries that have been able to use their culture as a springboard for cinematic expressions and other uses are renowned the world over. Bollywood is a contemporary example also the Yoruba film industry of the 1970s and 1980s captured the Yoruba essence and proclaimed it all over the world and audiences love it. Lagbaja, Asa, Yinka Davies, Fela Anikulapo–Kuti, King Sunny Ade are Nigerian musicians who are to blend their indigenous cultures with music and they are able to produce novel tunes and great music such that thrills even foreigners to the culture. Tunde Kelani is one filmmaker whose works is given glamour because of his appropriation of culture, in all his works he employs the Yoruba culture in story telling, costume design, set design, music, props, gestures, expression and in the use of language, this is one reason he is loved by his primary audience –the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Moreover culture inclination in a movie makes it easier for the filmmaker to work. Especially, where he belongs to that culture or there are available adequate resources on the culture of the film story and access to see the culture in practice. Moreover, it guarantees success at the box office where the film portrays culture effectively; to some extent, because people enjoy their culture, celebrates it and loves to see it portrayed. Nobody wants his culture, his values and philosophy eroded. Examples of cultural hits include IGODO (Don Pedro-Obaseki, 2000), SAWÒROIDÉ (Tunde Kelani, 2001), SANGO (Obafemi Lasode, 1996), KING SOLOMON’S MINE (Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, 1950) among others.

Culture serves as a basis for realism in movies. A work that builds on the established cultural nuances and conventions of a society is better accepted as an original statement about that society than those that do not. DANGEROUS TWINS (Tade Ogidan, 2004), RATTLESNAKES I, II, III AND IV (Amaka Igwe-Isaac, 1991-1996) are textbooks about Nigeria in contemporary times while such films as FALSE ALARM (2006) and CHAMELEON I AND II (2006) are refuted by critics as non-representative of Nigeria because of their un-Nigerian story nature, in FALSE ALARM the conflict is between a Nigerian “FBI” and Chief Lord Lugard Donko.
The thrust of the argument am putting forward is that every film should reflect as truthfully as possible to the limits that funding and technicalities would allow, the culture of its society or the society that it is depicting because it is only then that the film can gain from the enormous aesthetic benefits that culture provides for filmmaking. By working in the local idiom, Nollywood filmmakers can give their works original outlook such which cannot be rubbished but celebrated by their contemporaries in other countries.

Adenugba, Olushola Oladele

FOOTNOTES
All movie references are African. A bulk of the titles mentioned are from the Nigerian Film Industry colloquially called Nollywood also directors work in the same industry.