Nollywood - the new film empire - documented

Frank Ikegwuono is the embodiment of Nigeria’s young and vibrant cinema industry. In recent years, it has overtaken the American film industry to become, after India, the second largest producer of films worldwide. Ikegwuonu is an actor, director and producer for Urbanmingles Entertainment, a Canadian corporation. He is the publisher of an annual, ‘Who's Who’ of entertainment in Nigeria, where the majority of space is taken up by film industry names.

The publication has been officially endorsed in Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications. "I am conscious that the sudden appearance of Nigerian cinema (known as ‘Nollywood’) is both a symbol and an announcement of the arrival of Nigeria, and also of Africa, on the world scene," Ikegwuono told the Courier.  

Ikegwuonu is highly knowledgeable about Nigerian cinema, its roots, the fruition single project and the industry’s highs and lows. He talks about Nollywood as if it were a screenplay. In its early years in the 1990s, young pirates copied American and Indian films. Those who earnt money from the activity managed to buy basic film equipment and started to imitate foreign productions, but with a unique African flavour. These films were firstly sold cheaply on video, and then shown on TV stations chains, some of which had been specifically set up for the purpose.

Africa watches Africa

These former pirate producers and directors then began to use real scriptwriters. Some of the beautiful actresses and handsome actors who featured in the films rapidly became stars commanding ever higher salaries. Six different directors frequently adapted the same script which was acted by the same small group of stars whose appearance would guarantee a film’s success. The screenplay, acting and quality and picture quality were not important: the magic ingredients were melodrama, tears, situation comedy and lots of laughs. Nigerian film directors won over their audience with something new that could not be found in imported films. They touched on something close to the heart of their fellow Nigerians who stopped watching the American blockbusters, and even the Bollywood films that they had been passionate about. Nollywood meant that for the first time, Africa was watching Africa.  

Ikegwuonu says that Nigerian cinema now needs a quality revolution. It has to reach out to other directors and attract foreign productions, he says, and above all, European film companies who would be able to save 40% of their respective budgets by shooting their films in Africa. "We must be more demanding about quality", he concludes. This is what is behind his brainchild, the Nigeria Entertainment International Film Festival and Awards ceremony.

Hegel Goutier