Nollywood Is BIG, But It’s About To Get Even BIGGER.
It is 1992. Years before, you left school at 11 years old to follow your brother to Onitsha Market in eastern Nigeria. There, you crafted and sold handbags, before opting instead to sell cassettes and electronic goods 300 miles away in Lagos’ Idumota Market. “Thousands of vendors sell the exact same products, so what makes you unique?” you questioned. So, you wrote a movie called Living in Bondage about a luckless man who sacrifices his wife to the devil, hired a director and some soap actors, recorded it straight onto your empty cassettes and released it direct-to-video. Your film inaugurates a cinematic movement, you become a pioneering movie producer and eventually, Nollywood is born. 28 years ago, that is exactly what Mr Kenneth Nnebue did. Now Nigeria’s film industry - Nollywood - produces over 2,000 movies a year, contributes over 5% of Nigeria’s GDP (second only to agriculture) and employs over 1 million people.
Kenneth Nnebue
Living in Bondage, 1992
Though Living in Bondage wasn’t Nigeria’s first foray into cinema, it was easily the most explosive. Independence from the British in 1960, then an oil boom in the 1970s brought wealth to the West African nation, but cinemas were restricted to the Nigerian elites. By 1992 many households and meeting places could afford televisions, but there was limited access to movies. That was when, according to documentary maker Femi Odugbemi, “the consumers began to become the storytellers… There were a lot of films in Nigeria over the years, but none spoke our voice. None recognized our existence as…distinct.” Queue Ken Nnebue’s direct-to-video NEK Videos empire and the media revolution it would inspire.
Nollywood is now the second most prolific film industry in the world. Of the approximately 2,000 films made a year, most cost between $25,000 and $70,000 for just a week on set – a stark contrast to Hollywood’s 600 movies a year on colossal budgets. Kevin Costner’s Waterworld, irrefutably the most culturally important film since Citizen Kane, had a budget of $175 million. That figure alone could produce as many as 7,000 Nollywood movies. However, if someone were to sacrifice that amount of cash for a Nollywood-produced Waterworld, it would likely overload every synapse in my brain with excessive dopamine, rendering it impossible for me to enjoy any moving pictures ever again.
Pirated DVDs for sale at a market stall, Abuja.
The thing is, historically Nollywood producers have faced a sizeable barrier preventing them from splashing out on impeccable mise-en-scene, snappy editing and a Zimmer-esque score; as many as nine out of ten Nollywood movies bought are pirated. This begs the question – is there really any point in raising towering production budgets if your film won’t be watched in the cinema, but on small TV screens using pirated discs or tapes?
Well, yes, actually. These days Nollywood is no longer restricted by the same monetary limitations, as higher production values have come with increased cinema visits and a growing economy. Ojuju, a popular zombie horror film expands upon typical storytelling tropes and alludes to the dangers of Lagos’ poor quality water supply. The Figurine, a supernatural thriller, features a high production budget and acclaimed VFX, and was featured on the international festival circuit. Both, amongst a wealth of quality Nollywood flicks, represent a path toward international attention. Government-sponsored film schools are opening as self-taught cinema buffs gravitate to Nollywood from across the continent. Access to Nollywood’s best and brightest is now made easier globally by streaming services like iRokoTV and now Netflix - because yes, of course, those greedy Californian ruffians have dipped their toes into the Nollywood oasis.
Taken from film: Ojuju, 2014
Poster for The Figurine, 2009
Ultimately, Nollywood’s popularity relies on one main element – exceptional storytelling. Tales of familial conflict, tempestuous village soaps, Pentecostal parables, and battles between historical customs and modern values make up the majority of Nollywood’s output. Most follow traditional storytelling formulas like rites of passage and trickster tales stooped in century-old mythology, merely adapted and updated to suit their contemporary audiences across the African continent. Congolese translator Trésor Baka, who dubs Nollywood into Lingala, suggests “Nigeria has succeeded in reconciling modernity and their ancient ways, their culture and traditions.” That’s why over the last quarter-century, Africa’s fast-accelerating population of 1.2 billion people has embraced Nollywood, as South Asia’s population have opened their hearts to the equally prolific theatrics of Bollywood over the last century.
Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award Ceremony hosted in Lagos, 2015
So Nollywood is already HUGE, but it’s going to get way bigger. As Nigerian diaspora grows, the West African country’s domestic population is predicted to explode from 195 million to 400 million by 2050. The rest of Africa follows that trend with the continent expected to hit the 2.5 billion mark in 30 years – that’s over 25% of the planet’s predicted 9.8 billion population, all growing up watching Nollywood films. You know, it’ll likely be even more. Emily Witt – the journalist behind the book, Nollywood: The Making of a Film Empire – suggests that perhaps all it will take to ignite a Western market for Nollywood is a champion crossover movie, similar to how Slumdog Millionaire drew global attention to Bollywood.
There is no question; it is remarkable how far Nollywood has come in such a short time. I’m sure if you told Kenneth Nnebue in 1992 that from his humble beginnings, Nollywood would grow into multi-billion-dollar industry in under 30 years, his jaw would have dropped to the floor. In the past, we have been largely fed only torrid and clickbait news reports of coups, dictators and famines that disproportionally skew our perceptions of the beautiful African continent. But by 2050, Nollywood will produce lavish global mega-hits that provide an insight into a culture the West has overlooked for too long; a new generation of world stars emerging from Lagos, Enugu and Abuja rallied by their Nollywood successes. The Nigerian cinema industry continues to balloon an already burgeoning economy that has grown like a magic beanstalk, and I say, kind reader, it’s about time to get watching. L.A. has had its day - the wonderful world of Nollywood awaits you, with open arms.
