Nollywood
The cinema of Nigeria is an underdeveloped but nascent film industry. Although Nigerian films have been produced since the 1960s, the rise of digital cinema has resulted in a growing video film industry. The Nigerian video feature film industry is often referred to as Nollywood. The term is of uncertain date and origin, but is derived from Hollywood in the same manner as Bollywood. According to Hala Gorani and Jeff Koinange formerly of CNN, Nigeria has a US$250 million movie industry, churning out some 200 home videos every month to become the third-largest in the world after the United States and India. In just 16 years, however, Nollywood has grown from nothing into an industry that employs thousands of people.
History
The first Nigerian films were made by filmmakers such as Ola Balogun and Hubert Ogunde in the 1960s, but they were frustrated by the high cost of film production. However, 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 theatre productions. Many of these were circulated on video as well, and a small scale informal video movie trade developed.
The release of the box-office movie Living in Bondage in 1992 by NEK Video Links owned by Mr. Kenneth Nnebue in the Eastern Nigerian city of Onitsha set the stage for Nollywood as it is known today. The story goes that Kenneth Nnebue had an excess number of imported video cassettes which he then used to shoot the first film. The huge success of this film set the pace for others to produce other films or home videos.
Through the business instincts and ethnic links of the Igbos and their dominance of distribution in major cities across Nigeria, home videos began to reach people across the country. Nollywood exploded into a booming industry that pushed foreign media off the shelves, an industry now marketed all over Africa and the rest of the world. The use of English rather than local languages served to expand the market and aggressive marketing using posters, trailers, and television advertising also played a role in Nollywood's success.
Since then, thousands of movies have been released. One of the first Nigerian movies to reach international renown was the 2003 release Osuofia in London, starring Nkem Owoh, the famous Nigerian comedic actor. Modern Nigerian cinema’s most prolific auteur is Chico Ejiro, who directed over 80 films in an 8-year period and brags that he can complete production on a movie in as little as three days.
The first Nollywood films were produced with traditional analog video, such as Betacam SP but, today all Nollywood movies are produced using digital video technology. A March 2006 article in The Guardian cites Nigeria's film industry as the third largest in the world in terms of earnings. The paper cites unknown sources estimating the industry to bring in US$200 million per year.
Distribution
The primary distribution centres are Idumota Market on Lagos Island, and 51 Iweka Road in Onitsha in Anambra State.
Currently, Nigerian films outsell Hollywood films in Nigeria and many other African countries. Some 300 producers churn out movies at an astonishing rate - somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 a year. The films go straight to DVD and VCD discs. Thirty new titles are delivered to Nigerian shops and market stalls every week, where an average film sells 50,000 copies. A hit may sell several hundred thousand. Discs sell for two dollars each, making them affordable for most Nigerians and providing astounding returns for the producers.
Nigerian video movies are available in even the most remote areas of the continent. The last few years have seen the growing popularity of Nollywood films among African diaspora in both Europe and North America, and the African culture loving fans of North America and the Caribbean. New forms of distribution include digital distribution pioneered by the African Movie Channel through its high quality streaming site www.africanmoviechannel.tv and more recently with the launch of a number of dedicated TV stations in the UK and North America. We have also seen the advent of Nollywood movies in mainstream cinema in the UK and North America.
Nigerian films are currently receiving wider distribution as Nigerian producers and directors are attending more internationally acclaimed film festivals.
Themes
Many Nollywood movies have themes that deal with the moral dilemmas facing modern Africans. Some movies promote the Christian or Islamic faiths, and some movies are overtly evangelical. Others, however, address questions of religious diversity, such as the popular film Not Without My Daughter, about a Muslim man and a Christian woman who want to marry but go through many obstacles. Many of Nollywood’s films deal with AIDS, corruption, women’s rights, and other topics of concern to ordinary Africans.
Portrayal in the media
Nollywood was profiled in the 2007 documentary Welcome to Nollywood by director Jamie Meltzer. The film gives an overview of the industry, paying particular attention to directors Izu Ojukwu and Chico Ejiro, and acknowledging both the unusual, rapid, and enterprising way that most Nollywood films are created, as well as its significance and contribution to the greater society.
Nollywood was also profiled in a 2008 Canadian documentary Nollywood Babylon co-directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal produced by AM Pictures and National Film Board of Canada in association with the Documentary Channel. It will play in Official Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.