FOR THE RECORD….

It never ceases to amaze me how people who are not in an industry can stand and speak as ‘authorities’ of the same; usually condemning it. Its kind of like the case of the White man that came to Africa for a few months and then goes back to speak as an ‘expert’ or authority on Africa. Pray, tell, can you know all about Africa or Nigeria in three months? Which brings me to the topic at hand and that is the case of Nollywood.

I am writing not in defence of the industry but to state the facts and allow you to judge and make your own conclusions. I read the article in the July 2008 edition of Creativiti titled ‘The Film Industry: A documentation of the African Experience’ by Parselelo Kantai and in as much as what he said was true to some extent, I couldn’t help but shake my head. I beg to differ on several points made. He quoted Lagos Radio Personality, Olisa Adibua saying ‘we have not yet done films about events like the Nigerian Civil War, Queen Amina…’ but to that I say, ‘who is ready to foot the enormously high bill it will no doubt gulp to shoot such epics? The Government or Corporate bodies?

Ever since 1945, after the Second World War, America called the head honchos of the Hollywood Studios and told them that in future they must promote 5 things; The American Flag, the White House, the siren of the Police (to give the impression that the Police is omnipresent), the Seal (what we would call Coat of Arms) its Military might and the fact that it’s a great promoter of democracy. Over sixty years after that meeting what is the general feeling we all have after watching American films and think about America? So next time you ‘ooh and ah’ over the next episode of West Wing, Apollo 13, Armageddon, Transformers and the like you know what’s up.

My point is…movies remain the central hub of any nation’s cultural products. More is known about our culture and way of life than ever before through this little, often over-looked instrument known as the Nigerian home video. It has entered homes and gone to countries as far away as the Carribeans and Brazil (anywhere there is a large Black population) and captured a large and faithful following. It has done more image laundering for Nigeria than any Government –sponsored Public Relations Ad can ever do. Agreed, a lot still needs to be done in terms of quality and storylines but you need to know that the ingenuity of the home video lies in its cheapness in terms of production and its roll out time. Film making used to be an expensive, almost mystical occupation, open to only a select few. A typical Hollywood film costs between 50 – 70 million dollars to make and between 3 months to 1 year to shoot…on expensive celluloid! We also have to remember they have a cinema culture over there, where a young couple or friends go after work or on weekends to the movies, buy some popcorn, soft drinks and for two hours, escape into the fantasy world of some Disney movie or the latest offering about extra-terrestial beings in outer space from Steven Spielberg. In Africa the socio-cultural environment is different and this is where the home video was able to hone in with their stories about village life, husband snatching, evil planning and the like. With the advent of the digital camera and Adobe Premiere editing software, anybody with a story to tell could do so, relatively cheaply. Home video practitioners were able to take advantage of this change in technology and gain popularity amongst ordinary folks and in the process spur other African countries to look inwards and produce stories about their own culture which they were not doing before. Some might say Ben Bruce has been able to revive the Cinema culture in Nigeria (at least Lagos) with SilverBird but how many cinemas are there? What happens to the rest of the 120 million Nigerians that want to be entertained? Enter the home video!

The fact of the matter is that the home video is a phenomenon; the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It is following no rules, structures nor precedence and like all things Nigerian, is using ‘ogboju’ to forge its way ahead, whether anyone likes it or not. Unfortunately, charlatans and unprofessional elements have joined the funky train but that is what you get when you have children and do not make plans for them. Or how much has the Government invested in film in Nigeria? How many Film Funds are available to producers in Nigeria? How many film schools are there in Nigeria? How many film sets or film villages have been built in Nigeria? Your guess is as good as mine. Very few if at all then you wonder why you don’t see Nigerian films of the standard and quality of Apollo 13, Matrix and Aeon Reflux?

The industry has it flaws no doubt but I will say it has its pluses. It has from nothing been able to build itself into a multi-billion dollar industry. Leke Alder Consulting estimates that the total market potential of the Nigerian home video industry is well over N522 billion and Price Waterhouse Coopers, the global entertainment industry journal estimates that the industry will generate US$600 billion in 2010. It is also one of the largest, informal employers of labour in the country right now, employing well over 200,000 people of different ages and tribes, at various locations in the country through the professions of actors, actresses, directors, producers, cameramen, make-up artistes, caterers, editors etc. It is doing what no Poverty Alleviation programme, N.D.E. or any well meaning, Government-sponsored programme can do and that is, provide employment and dignity of labour to thousands of Nigerians; young and old alike. Think of all the old men in the Eastern part of this country who are regularly making money by simply shouting ‘Tufiakwa’ as they judge some imaginary case in the ‘Igwe’s Palace’! People who would have been miscreants, touts, streetwalkers, dropouts and pensioners are now gainfully employed and making a lot of people happy. It was reported that when Genevieve Nnaji (one of the more popular Nigerian home video actresses) went to Liberia a few years ago on the invitation of some Liberians, the entire Liberian Parliament was waiting on the tarmac to welcome her on red carpet! By the time she joined the convoy to go to her hotel, she saw that the streets of Liberia were lined with ordinary Liberians, smiling, waving and shouting ‘Genevieve!’ Genevieve!’ It is we in Nigeria that don’t value what we have.

Another thing I realized is that the Western world (for reasons best known to them) likes to portray Africa as a poverty-stricken, AIDS-infested hell hole. Unwittingly, the home video has debunked that notion and smashed it to smithereens. It has shown them to be liars when they say we swing on trees and live in grass huts. How then do you explain the beautiful looking people, gorgeously dressed, driving hummers and jeeps and living in mansions? Earlier this year I was invited to be part of a programme known as the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Berlin International Film Festival and they invited aspiring writers, directors, producers, editors etc to Berlin to attend seminars, workshops and interact with their established European counterparts. Well, I attended and one of the things I noticed was that the West was very behind in the way they viewed Africa. Different film entries were shown but the only ones on Africa were about a child-soldier from Darfur, Sudan and a musician living in the slums of Uganda. I was very upset and I stood up and told them that they did not have an accurate picture of Africa….that Africa was about laughter, dance and music; that the pictures I had just seen were not a true depiction of Africa. They were just staring at me like I came from the moon! It was then one of the speakers said the Europeans gave funding to the producers to show those particular documentaries. Why didn’t they let them show something else about Africa? It was then I realized the service the home video had unwittingly done to Nigeria and Africa as a whole. It had shown them to be liars. Yes there are slums but that is not the whole of Africa. There are beautiful areas too….GRA, Ikoyi, Lekki Phase One, VGC and the like. It was from that day I stopped joining to abuse Nollywood and rather started thinking of ways I could improve and better the industry. What is the way forward and how can the industry get better like its counterpart, the music industry? Those should be the pressing questions ……I rest my case. Reactions are very welcome.

this article was first written by the authourfor Creativiti Magazine and is being reproduced here.