• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
AFRIPOL

AFRIPOL

en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Mission Statement
  • Articles
  • Book Review
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

The Making of Nigeria’s Film Industry

February 26, 2012 by Admin Leave a Comment

Written by Andrew Rice

Nollywood NY times

A Scorsese in Lagos

Kunle Afolayan wants to scare you, he wants thrill you, he wants to make you laugh, but most of all, he would like you to suspend your disbelief — in his plots, yes, which tend to be over the top, but also about what is possible in Africa. He bristles if you call him an “African filmmaker” — a phrase redolent of art-house cinema, which his work assuredly is not. He wants to make huge, explosive, American-style blockbusters, and he wants to make them where he lives — in Nigeria. His ambitions may sound implausible. Nigeria lacks even a reliable supply of electricity. But it does contain a chaotic creative energy that has made it the world’s most prolific producer of films.

Twenty years after bursting from the grungy street markets of Lagos, the $500 million Nigerian movie business churns out more than a thousand titles a year on average, and trails only Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of revenues. The films are hastily shot and then burned onto video CDs, a cheap alternative to DVDs. They are seldom seen in the developed world, but all over Africa consumers snap up the latest releases from video peddlers for a dollar or two. And so while Afolayan’s name is unknown outside Africa, at home, the actor-director is one of the most famous faces in the exploding entertainment scene known — inevitably — as “Nollywood.”

On a continent where economies usually depend on extracting natural resources or on charity, moviemaking is now one of Nigeria’s largest sources of private-sector employment. Walls around Lagos are plastered with posters reading, “Actors/Actresses Wanted.” Nollywood stars are everywhere, from billboards to glossy tabloids filled with pictures of red-carpet events. The African Movie Academy Awards, held each year in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, have become a lavish spectacle, drawing visitors like Forest Whitaker and Danny Glover. Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has recruited Nollywood stars to campaign with him, while Afolayan and others have lent prominent support to a protest movement called “Occupy Nigeria.”

And yet most of the movies themselves are awful, marred by slapdash production, melodramatic acting and ludicrous plots. Afolayan, who is 37, is one of a group of upstart directors trying to transcend those rote formulas and low expectations. His breakthrough film, the 2009 thriller “The Figurine,” was an aesthetic leap: while no viewer would confuse it with “Citizen Kane,” to Nigerians it announced the arrival of a swaggering talent keen to upset an immature industry. Unlike most Nollywood fare, “The Figurine” was released in actual theaters, not on cheap discs, playing to packed houses next to Hollywood features. “Many observers,” Jonathan Haynes, a scholar of Nollywood, recently wrote, “have been waiting a long time for this kind of filmmaking, which can take its place in the international arena proudly and on equal terms.”

In contrast to Nollywood’s chiseled leading men, Afolayan is stout, speaks with a laid-back drawl and has a noticeable scar on one side of his face from a car accident. But he has undeniable charisma — a quality his admirers say he inherited from his father, an actor and legendary playboy. One sticky August night, I accompanied Afolayan on a prowl through Lagos, weaving through the metropolis in his monstrous pickup truck. We ended up at an open-air nightclub called King Sized, where heads turned as he made his entrance with a boisterous entourage. In West Africa, a famous presence demands recognition, so the resident highlife band swiftly shifted into an impromptu praise song. “Kunle Afolayan,” the vocalist began to trill, “Kunle Afolayan is here!”

As the singer celebrated his name, Afolayan nonchalantly sipped from a sweaty beer bottle. This was a scripted ritual; the entertainment didn’t come free. The chorus reached a crescendo as Afolayan, dressed in faded jeans and bursting from a sheer white shirt, came forward with a huge stack of Nigerian banknotes. He began to dance, shaking his hips and moving his feet, casting off bills with fluid flicks of his wrist — a tribute Nigerians call “spraying.” A band member crawled around, scooping up cash, while Afolayan delighted in the adulation.

READ THE REST: here

Filed Under: Strategic Research & Analysis

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More to See

“Oops” was Tems Responds to those saying her Gorgeous Gown Blocked views @ 2023 Oscars

March 15, 2023 By AFRIPOL

United States Blinken in Africa Having a coffee time in Ethiopia (video)

March 15, 2023 By AFRIPOL

RSS AllAfrica News: Latest

  • South Africa: Russian Leader Putin's Visit a Headache For South African Govt
    [allAfrica] Cape Town -- Russia's President Vladimir Putin will be attending the Brics Summit in August this year, on invitation by the South African government. Brics is a group of the world's biggest emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and late-addition South Africa.
  • Congo-Kinshasa: DR Congo Govt Surprises With Cabinet Reshuffle Months Before Polls
    [allAfrica] The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, announced a Cabinet reshuffle on the evening of Thursday, March 23.
  • Ethiopia: Locust Swarms in Three Districts of Northwestern Tigray Threaten Farmers Reeling From War Impacts
    [Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- Tigray's Agriculture Bureau has said that locust swarms are threatening the livelihoods of farmers yet to recover from impacts of the two years' war in three districts in Northwestern Tigray.
  • Ethiopia: EzEMA,, NaMA Hold First Consultative Meeting, Agree to Take Common Position On National Issues of Concern
    [Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EzEMA,) and National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) announced holding the first round of consultative meeting on the current national political affairs on Thursday.
  • Mozambique: Two Years After Palma Attack, MSF Offers Glimmer of Hope for Cabo Delgado
    [allAfrica] Harare -- In March 2021, rebels carried out an assault on the town of Palma in northern Mozambique that left scores of people dead, drove thousands from their homes, and postponed a sizeable gas project that was going to be built nearby.
  • Sudan: Khartoum Witnesses 'Significant Increase' in Dengue Cases Amidst Medical Shortages
    [Dabanga] Khartoum -- The United Doctors' Office told Radio Dabanga that there has been a significant increase in dengue fever cases in Khartoum State, whilst warning of the 'terrible deterioration' of the situation in health institutions.

Tags

Achebe Africa Anambra Boko Haram Buhari CBN Corona Virus Egypt Igbo IMF Inflation Jonathan Kenya Nigeria Okonjo Iweala Peter Obi Sanusi Senate Soludo South Africa Soyinka United States
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Footer

Africa Political and Economic Strategic Center, AFRIPOL is foremost a public policy center whose fundamental objective is to broaden the parameters of public policy debates in Africa. To advocate, promote and encourage free enterprise, democracy, sustainable green environment, human rights, conflict resolutions, transparency and probity in Africa.

Recent

  • Ike Ekweremadu, wife & Dr. Obinna Obeta found guilty of organ trafficking
  • The Trembling Of A Silent Revolution by Pius Okaneme
  • “Why is it important that the diaspora come home?” –  Burna Boy answer to the question came with criticism from African Americans.
  • Dr. Mbah Declared Enugu State Governor-Elect by INEC
  • Alex Otti of Labour Party wins Abia Governorship Election

Search

Tags

Achebe Africa Anambra Boko Haram Buhari CBN Corona Virus Egypt Igbo IMF Inflation Jonathan Kenya Nigeria Okonjo Iweala Peter Obi Sanusi Senate Soludo South Africa Soyinka United States

Copyright © 2023 · AFRIPOL