Nollywood Questions [Help Needed]

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Folks

An American Christian Magazine is putting together a story on Nollywood and they have asked for our help.

The main questions they have are:

1. Most Americans have never heard of Nollywood. What types of movies do they produce?

2. What percentage of the films are Christian? I'm not sure anyone has an exact number on this, but I'd appreciate your best guess.

3. What role do these Christian films play in Nigerian culture? Are they used primarily for entertainment? evangelism?

4. What do you see in the future for these films? Someone mentioned to me that some film production might be moving more to Kenya. Is this true? Will Nollywood continue to grow and produce more and more films? or will other countries begin to produce their own and start to compete with Nigeria?

Any other thoughts or insights on Nollywood/the evangelical component would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have thoughts/leads on these questions? All good answers will be rewarded with a copy of the edition

Thanks much!

[smartomoge]

1. Most Americans have never heard of Nollywood. What types of movies do they produce?

95 percent of Nollywood stories are either love stories or family relationship dramas - patience O. has become famous as the problematic mother in law, Genevieve Nnaji has become a household name playing the love interest. There are several variations to the theme, but that is Nollywood in general. Used to be in the past that many of them had a good versus evil (with strong use of the occult) theme, but that has changed dramatically.

2. What percentage of the films are Christian? I'm not sure anyone has an exact number on this, but I'd appreciate your best guess.

There is a christian movie Genre - mainly mount zion films, and Helen Ukpabio's stuff. Since religion is a strong part of our culture, Christianity does appear as a theme in many Nollywood movies. However, I would say that that is declining of recent. Five years ago, I would have said perhaps 30-50 percent of Nollywood movies had christian themes. The movies have gotten more and more secular of recent. I would say 10-20 percent now?

3. What role do these Christian films play in Nigerian culture? Are they used primarily for entertainment? evangelism?

Mount Zion movies and other related movies in the christian genre are mostly used for evangelism. However, for the more mainstream movies that use christian themes, I would say its mostly entertainment. The producers and directors most likely to do that are Lancelot Imasuen, Emem Isong and more recently - Desmond Elliot. Desmond has been in at least two christian themed movies this year.

4. What do you see in the future for these films? Someone mentioned to me that some film production might be moving more to Kenya. Is this true? Will Nollywood continue to grow and produce more and more films? or will other countries begin to produce their own and start to compete with Nigeria?

I have not seen Kenyan movies (except some trailers on youtube), but I have it on good authority that their top movies are of better quality than Nigeria's. Also, at the recently concluded AMAA (African movie awards), Kenyans won most of the top prizes, which is the reason I suspect that you were told that the nucleus of African film was shifting. However, as much as South Africans and Kenyans may make better films, they cannot (yet) compete with the affection Africans in general have for Nollywood. Its amazing let me tell you. Where I live, nobody knows who acts in SA or Kenyan movies, but they can tell you about Omotola or Genevieve or Ramsey Noah. Nollywood is a brand. It has name recognition. Its stars are revered all over Africa. Recently Rita Dominic was in Malawi. You'd have thought that Obama was visiting. She generated a frenzy!!

The county capable of competing with Nigeria right now is Ghana, but many Nigerian producers are circumventing that threat by using collaborating - Using Ghanaian and Nigerian movies in the same movies. Many Ghanaian producers are doing same so that currently, Nollywood can be said to also embrace the movies and stars of Ghana.

Also, the face of the movie producer is changing, slowly but surely in Nigeria and in Ghana. With Nollywood's success, many capable producers and directors are being attracted to make better, more technically proficient and more challenging movies. Two examples:

Kunle Afolayan: The figurine (Nigeria)

YouTube - The Figurine(Araromire)Teaser

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SmartOmoge,

Thanks. I can hug you right now.

Please PM me on those you mentioned we can follow up with and I'll pass that on.

Regards

[smartomoge]

Christianity Today

Spirituality fuels Nollywood's booming film industry
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

While Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and The Passion of the Christ have generated talk of a Christian filmmaking renaissance in the United States, Nigerian Christians are actively contributing to the booming Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood.

Nollywood recently surpassed Hollywood in film production, according to a UNESCO survey released in May. The Lagos-based industry has existed for less than 20 years, yet produced 872 feature-length films in 2006, nearly twice Hollywood's 485 productions. (Both trailed India, which produced more than 1,000 films.)

Most Nigerian films, almost all of which are low-budget affairs shot on location and released on DVD, are spiritual in nature. About 20 percent are Christian, according to Obidike Okafor, an arts and culture reporter at Nigerian newspaper Next. Others champion Islam, animism and witchcraft, or simple morality.

The Christian-themed movies often aim at encouragement and evangelism more than sheer entertainment. Groups or churches often screen the films and follow them with discussions or an altar call.

"Nigerian movies are really watched," said Sunday Oguntola, religion reporter for Nigerian newspaper The Nation. "[People] like to watch stories. I rent an average of five movies every weekend to watch with my family."

Oguntola's Baptist church shows movies two or three times a month during the evening service. "People like to see life in movies," he said. "They can watch them for hours." Showing movies is usually more effective than preaching, and church leaders are capitalizing on that, he said.

The films are also a major part of witnessing in Nigeria, said Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. "This is particularly good where you're dealing with people who are technically literate but like to have their material packaged in a more interesting way," he said.

Unlike Hollywood, which looks nervously at devotional movies such as Mel Gibson's Passion, Nollywood can't be separated from the Christian film component, Jenkins said. "The lines between the two—Christian and secular—are actually pretty thin."

Some Nigerian Christians would disagree. While Nollywood looks remarkably Christian compared to Hollywood, some Lagos pastors and film producers think Nigeria's film industry is full of idolatry and social evils and don't want their ministries associated with it. In 1995 the National Film and Video Censors Board tracked almost 200 G-rated movies and few others. By 2005 over 1,300 movies rated 18-and-older were outpacing G movies by 6 to 1.

"Half of the Christian movies are not done by faith-based organizations, but by directors who want to take advantage of the strong religious inclinations of Nigerians to sell [movies]," Okafor said. "The others do it to promote their faith."

Independent companies, ministries, and large churches producing hundreds of Christian films often see themselves as an alternative to Nollywood. Nevertheless, they have enjoyed mainstream success and many of the films can be seen on state television channels.

Lagos pastor Olabode Ososami uses Christian films to evangelize youth but is very selective in the films he chooses. "I have not shown any of the Nollywood films because these are primarily actors not known to me as Christians. Indeed, they portray other violent, non-Christian roles in other films," he said. "The spirit in the actor is important for me to screen a film to congregations."

Not all Nollywood actors realize this distinction is important to Christians, Ososami said. Many professional actors have seen the large demand for Christian films and are cashing in on it.

I think the title is very misleading, but thought it was relevant to this discussion.

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Smartgirl,

PM me an address for your copy of the mag. Anyone else interested? I have 5 copies to give.