Celebrity Biographies
Nigerian Gradually Matching Up With American Movies
The Nigeria film industry known as Nollywood is the second Biggest Film industry in the world which comes second to Hollywood, and it’s a global powerhouse that releases hundreds of movies annually. But a few decades down the line it wasn’t so.
The origin of the industry can be traced as far back as the early 1940s, before the prominence of motion pictures in Nigeria. The industry then was characterized by travel theatre groups, most notably those of Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, and Duro Ladipo. These groups travel across different towns and cities across the country, performing their shows, which are often a combination of traditional drumming, music, and folklore.
The Industry then evolved following the introduction of motion pictures into the industry and the establishment of cinemas all around the country. Many of these of these theatre practitioners transitioned to the big screen. During this period we saw the rise of historical filmmakers such as Ola Balogun, Hubert Ogunde, Jab Adu, Moses Olayia, and Eddie Ugboma.
The industry since then has gone through several transitions such as the rise and death of Cinema in the 1970’s and the 1980’s, the Video film era in the late 90’s, and most of the 2000s, and the present global domination Of Nollywood movies all across the globe. Before the in-depth analysis of the present global success of Nollywood and how it came to be, let us consider the history of the industry, right from its origin.
Origin of Nollywood
As earlier stated the origin of Nollywood can be traced back to the theatre group of Herbert Ogunde and his contemporaries. However, following the proliferation of motion pictures and Cinema houses in Nigeria in the twentieth century, we saw the first generation of Nigerian filmmakers such as Ola Balogun, Hubert Ogunde, Jab Adu, Moses Olayia, and Eddie Ugboma. According to some historians, this period marks the foundation of Nollywood.
According to Wikipedia, the first-ever Nigerian film to be produced was the 1926 Palaver directed by Geoffrey Barkas. Other notable movies within this period include Fincho (1957), directed by Sam Zebba; which is also the first Nigerian film to be shot in color. Papa Ajasco (1984) by Wale Adenuga became the first blockbuster, grossing approximately ₦61,000 in three days. A year later, Mosebolatan (1985) by Moses Olaiya also went ahead to gross ₦107,000 in five days.
The Indigenization Decree was issued by Yakubu Gowon, in 1970 and the oil boom of 1973 through 1978 immensely contributed to the spontaneous boost of the cinema culture in Nigeria, ultimately the growth of the entire Nollywood industry. The presence of foreign investments led to the erection of several cinema complexes. In 1976, The 5000-capacity National Arts Theatre, Iganmu was constructed in Lagos.
However, by the late 1980s, the Nigerian cinematic culture began to experience a decline, ultimately a decline affecting the entire industry. This decline as been attributed to numerous factors. According to Wikipedia, the reduction in the value of the Naira, lack of finance and marketing support, and lack of standard film studios and production equipment, is the the major factors that led to the fall of the Nigerian movie Golden Era.
The Video Film Era
Following the decline of the Nigerian Cinematic Culture, the Nigerian Movie industry transitioned to making movies in affordable video film formats such as VHS VCD, and DVD. The first film to be produced during this period was Soso Meji (1988), produced by Ade Ajiboye, followed by Alade Aromire Ekun (1989). The industry experienced another boom in this era, which is generally believed to have been kick-started by Kenneth Nnebue’s Living in Bondage (1992). However, some historians argued that there were other commercial successful movies before the Production of Living in Bondage such as Aje Ni Iya Mi (1989).
Other films released in the early period of this era also include Circle of Doom (1993) and Glamour Girls (1994). Filmmakers in this period are often referred to as the second generation of filmmakers, Amaka Igwe, Alade Aromire, Zeb Ejiro, Chico Ejiro, The Amata brothers, Femi Lasode, Kenneth Nnebue, Pete Edochie, and many others. This era marked an all-time peak in the number of Nigerian film productions. As of 2004, at least four to five films were produced every day in Nigeria, and the movies already dominated television screens across the African continent and by extension, the Caribbeans and the diaspora.
In this era, Nigeria’s film industry grew to become a big employer of labor in Nigeria, providing over a million jobs and contributing about 5% of the GDP. At the peak of the era around 2008, the industry had become the second-largest producer of films, releasing approximately 200 video films monthly. The era however went into decline from 2005 through 2008, The decline has been attributed to high levels of copyright infringement, which deterred investment in video films. It is however important to note that this era laid the foundation for the recent success of the Nollywood industry.
Recent Global dominance of Nollywood
The recent success of the Nigeria Nollywood industry can be traced back to Nigeria’s supernatural suspense thriller film” The Figurine” produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan, with a Domestic gross of ₦30,000,000. The Figurine was praised for its top-notch cinematography, and props, and for leading the revolutionary birth of what has been termed New-Nollywood. The success of FIgureine was immediately followed by movies such as Ije’ (2010), Last Flight to Abuja, Phone Swap, and The Return of Jenifa all released in 2012.
The new Nollywood continued its booming success all through 2013 and 2014, with numerous iconic releases such as The adaptation of Ngozi Chiamanda’s Book, Half A Yellow Sun (2013), October 1st (2014) by Kunle Afolayan, AY Makun’s 30 Days in Atlanta (2014), and the beginning of The Wives On Strike franchise. Movies released within this period are said to have revolutionized the Nigerian film industry by introducing Nollywood to the rest of the globe.
The Industry took a step closer in 2018 when the Global streaming service Netflix, began making enormous contributions to the development of Nigeria’s film industry. Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut movie, Lionheart, became the first Nigerian film to be streamed on the global streaming service, Netflix film. It was also the first Nigerian submission for the American Academy Awards, popularly known as The Oscars.
Since the arrival of Netflix, many Nollywood blockbusters have debuted on the platform such as Kunle Afolayan, Biyi Bandele, and several others. Other movie streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Show Max. Notable movies within this period include the romantic comedy-drama” The Wedding Party” produced by Kemi Adetiba, which became the highest-grossed film in Nigeria with a Domestic gross of ₦452,288,605.
The crime political thriller film ”King Of Boys” (2018) which was produced and directed by Kemi Adetiba also made the list. In 2020 ” Omo Ghetto The Saga” the Nigerian gangster comedy film co-directed by Funke Akindele and JJC Skillz, The film became a box office success and became a Nigeria film in the industry 2020 Grossed ₦468 million surpassing the record 2016” the Wedding Party.
While the Industry is on a path of relative success, higher than it has ever achieved before, There is still more to be done for it to catch up with its contemporary on a global scale.
Oluwafemi
November 20, 2023 at 10:48 PM
Nice write up.