The Nation Newspaper

Category: Victor Akande

  • Here comes African Film Consortium

    FROM FESPACO to the now-rested Sithengi Film Festival, Cape Town – Durban International Film Festival to Zanzibar International Film Festival, and the Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles among others, the desire to up the ante of African cinema has made the screaming titles of various film industry sessions.

    The discussions go on and on, and one can only be as good and up-to-date with the last film forum attended.

    However, leveraging on the current mobile internet technology that has made the world a hut, a platform known as the African Film Consortium made debut on WhatsApp on August 14, 2015, courtesy of a film enthusiast, Mykel Parish.

    There is no gainsaying that this might provide a rapid solution to cross fertilization of idea; the forum also prides itself with the best in African film landscape.

    AFC parades great African filmmakers, film educators, critics, curators, actors, culture advocates, content buyers, investors and a host of other enthusiasts of African cinema.

    Here is a fraction of the impressive line-up which in few days has outdone its present social media space of100 group membership, and which is already transiting to a more ample virtual room on Twitter.

    AFC parades great names such as Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi, Richard Mofe Damijo, Joke Silver, Mildred Okwo, Tunde Kelani, South Africa-based Firdoze Bulbulia Itsepere and husband Faith Isiakpere, Steven Markovitz, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Alex Eyengho, Seyi Babatope, Victor Okhai, Opa Williams, Teco Benson, Obi Emelonye, Stephenie Linus and Emeka Ossai.

    Others are Frankfurt-based Isaac Izoya, the initiator of Nollywood Film Festival Germany & Nollywood Europe Golden Awards; Ibrahim Ceesay, President of the Copyright Collecting Society of The Gambia; Hakim Olaleru, creative director, singer, songwriter and CEO of Multimedia, Nigeria; Joel Karekezi, a Rwandan filmmaker; Johnny Muteba, Founder and CEO of South African Film and Television Academy and Creative South Africa; Mangenge Gelam Dickson, aka Colonel Dickson, cultural  promoter and actor based in Cameroun; Amil Shivji, filmmaker from Dar Es Salaam; Sara Blecher, South African filmmaker; Kevin Kriedemann, ex Variety and Hollywood Reporter journalist, now marketing African creativity; Zziwa, a film director and actor from Uganda; Fahruq, an independent filmmaker based in Kenya; Tony Eddy, MD of Panavision Africa; Nico Dekker, CEO of Cape Town film studio; Chioma Ude, CEO of Africa International Film Festival; Daniel Nyalusi of the Zanzibar International Film Festival; Dr. Ama Muna Tutu, Cameroon Minister of Culture and notable cinematographer Jonathan Kovel.

    There are also journalists and film critics including myself, Steve Ayorinde, Shaibu Huseini, Risper Muthamia, media consultant based in Kenya, and Alenne Menget, investigative journalist and a filmmaker based in Cameroon. The list indeed is endless.

    Described by pundits as the biggest film movement in Africa at the moment, the forum, straight to business, kicked off with an insightful keynote address by Prof. Ekwuazi.

    No doubt, the forum is a strategic virtual discourse round-table meant to involve African Ministers of Culture and other decision makers who can pave the way for the needed synergy or treaties needed by Africans along film business line.

    Members hope that a similar platform can be organised where content providers can meet with buyers and distributors.

    For example, Firdoze thinks it would be a great idea to ‘meet at Discop this year’, and have a special session in children’s media.

    Members believe that the creative industry can transform the African narrative and contribute in the realisation of the Africa Agenda 2063 of the African Union and her member states.

    Some of the ‘forumites’ capture the grace of the medium in very apt words.

    Alene Manget says: “ I lack words to express my excitement. Mykel, I think your tour round Africa for the past 10 years is yielding for the benefits of the entire industry…You may not know what this networking means.”

    Teco Benson says: “You are an inspiration to the industry…When we still were dreaming; you made the bullets leave the guns in our African movies.”

    He adds: “With this congregation of African great minds, never will African voice be suppressed. And never will Africa be seen as a dark continent.”

    For Opa Williams, “Our vision and mission is to communicate to the world our culture, our position as a united race,  telling the world who we really are through our stories and working together as Africans to uphold our beliefs and greatness.”

    Mykel explains that the “African Film Consortium is focused on engaging collaborative instincts to harness the outlay of vast African filmmaking resource base towards re-shaping of thought processes for the realization of sustainable cinema for Africa.”

    Although the first two days were spent enlisting and introducing members across Africa and the Disapora, Prof. Ekwuazi’s notes was a thoughtful ‘baptism’ that speaks volume about the mission, objective and direction of the new movement.

    Ii is my pleasure to share his thoughts and other concerns here in subsequent editions.

  • Relieving African cinema from jugular ache

    UNTIL the 90s, no one could have thought that Nigerian music could be preferred by the locals as against the dominant American songs which of course remain legendary to date.

    Today, American music is second choice to an average Nigerian youth who is still possessed by Hollywood movies.

    The battle for the life of African entertainment in general could be likened to bleaching the skin. People who do usually have a false sense of beauty upgrade. Reason being that even when a light complexion is perceived to have made up for whatever limitation, like an early sun, it doesn’t last the day  apologies to the late Michael Jackson.

    The Hip-hop and rap genres are evidences of the fact that originality could emerge from imitation  judging by how the late Dagrin, Olamide, Phyno and Sarkodie of Ghana have funkified local lyrics to the admiration of many.

    But Nigerian movies are not breathing as healthily as its songs because the former’s jugular is still within the grip of Hollywood.

    The problem is not just about the so called low budget Nollywood film, because even films from South Africa with funding by developmental and cultural agencies are replicas of the Hollywood crime thrillers, with some of the celebrated titles likeHow to Steal 2 Million, Hard To Get, and iNumber Number among others.

    The wind of African renaissance must blow across the film sector, because of the visual and subtle import of the medium.

    Should I say the consciousness is already brewing?

    At the just concluded Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), the festival director, Pedro Pimenta, during his opening speech at the Nigerian Day jolted the gathering when he said the solution to the problems of African cinema can only be found in Africa, and not anywhere abroad. I particularly like Pimenta’s quote of an African author, which says ‘It is important for the future of cinema that Africa exists’. “We must exist. We shouldn’t always try to be like Hollywood because they have got no stories. They are now going back to comics. Whereas Africa is living on a huge well of untold stories,” he said.

    How do we free the jugular of African youngsters from this neocolonialism that continues to threaten the art, culture and business of motion picture entertainment in Africa?

    The youths appear the most adventurous and vulnerable here. And until the filmmakers employ whatever stunt that the musicians pulled to bring the industry to where it is today, the future remains bleak.

    Another institution that craves the unity of Africa and desires Black Creatives all over the world to believe in their craft, is the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).

    AMAA’s founder, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, while announcing a partnership with Facebook, to profile African and Black artistes, and launch them into bigger opportunities for creative businesses around the world, also unveiled the AfricaOne initiative, a project she said was conceived to bridge the socio-economic gap that exists among African countries, using the medium of arts and entertainment.

    If filmmakers improve their art, and Africans learn to cherish and patronise their works, the population of the continent is enough to grow the art business without looking outwards.

    Today, a documentary film debut by London-based Nigerian filmmaker, Labi Odebunmi, premieres on urban lifestyle channel, Soundcity.

    Odebunmi shares the passion of a British-Nigeria music star and first Afrobeat artiste to sign a recording deal with Island Records, a notable international record label, with credits for the works of artistes such as Bob Marley, and Amy Winehouse.

    The essence, he said, is to give the average Nigerians who may not have the opportunity to fly to London to have the feel of the society, and appreciate the cultural realities being imbibed by most Nigerians in the Diaspora.

    “We have got to that stage in the UK where white folks including those at West End now dance to Nigerian music at their clubs, and even play our Afrobeat songs on their radio stations. The other day, Wizkid’s Ojuelegba was played on the influential Capital FM and everybody could feel the vibe. This is because of the Nigerian culture which gives originality to the genre of music they play,” he says.

    As we seek to rewrite the African narrative, I look forward to that day when there will be more posters of Nollywood films that Hollywood’s in our cinemas.

  • Should we close churches to reopen cinemas?

    ONE of the ways that foreigners have mocked the slow growth of cinema business in Nigeria is to say that we have closed down cinemas to open churches.

    Indeed, while the cinemas of yesteryears have been bought over by modern businesses, and painfully axed down with nostalgia, it is not unlikely that some of them may have been replaced by annexes of some big church brands.

    The foreigners’ perception of the irony of cinema story in Nigeria is relative to the extent that cinemas dwindled until the recent but slow revamp, while churches have grown in geometric progression. This is not what you find in other climes.

    As you walk along tube stations in London, adore billboards on the streets of New York and Toronto, or take a pleasure trip round Johannesburg, or Durban in nearby South Africa, you can’t miss the captivation of film posters which rival most product advertisements. Whereas in Nigeria, posters of church revivals, bearing photos of the pastor and his Mummy Mission-wife compete with the popular MTN slogan of ‘Everywhere You Go’.

    Vono Andile, my South African friend who had imagined that Nigeria is such an unrivalled football loving nation came visiting last year, but found it amazing that there are more church posters than advertisement of local football leagues.

    We joked and laughed.

    The question that comes to my mind is, how do we see the future of African cinema, when apart from that ‘lousy’ comparison between film and church advertisement, there are more Hollywood posters in our re-emerging cinemas than Nollywood’s?

    The other aspect is that although the analogy of the church posters may sound heretical, it is illogical in my Public Relations’ media point of view for a charity or non-commercial and untaxed organisation, under which the church falls to rival a commercial organisation like Nollywood in advertisement.

    Of course, the churches are not to blame, for how else do you promote the work of the Lord effectively without the modern techniques of evangelism that also have more TV channels dedicated to ‘deliverance’ dramas than all the Africa Magic and Mzanzi Magic channels put together.

    The present government, in its readjustment of priorities, must begin to identify potentially viable non-oil sectors of the economy and give them some feathers to fly. This is talking about enabling environment that not only reduces the cost of film production, but also walking the talk of piracy minimisation.

    Cottage and community cinemas should be encouraged to change the cinema-going culture from the elitist recreation that some Nigerian cinemas have made it.

    With these in place, it can only be a win-win for the Nigerian motion picture industry and the Nigerian government, as filmmakers will not only be able to repay loans conveniently, there will be more employment and basis for government to tax the filmmakers and jump start the country’s GDP.

    Art and entertainment must continue to hit our psyche as real businesses and not the ‘play’ thing for which it has been carelessly underrated like other sectors of the economy, as against the almighty oil.

  • Filmmaker ‘defeats’ Omar al-Bashir at DIFF

    IT was another case of Film in Exile, but the effort became rewarding, as another feather was added to the cap of Sudanese filmmaker, Hajooj Kuka, whose documentary film, Beats of the Antonov, depicts al-Bashir not just as the kind of leader who drops bombs on unarmed civilians, but also as a racist, dividing his country along racial and ethnic lines.

    The dreadlocked artiste has been winning awards for the expository film, the recent, being at the just concluded Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), where he picked the Artwatch Africa laurel.

    Kuka made a show of the vicious treatment the citizens are facing in the hands of the country’s leader to the amazement of many at DIFF, who were not familiar with the real story of the present Sudan.

    The showcase at DIFF, occurred barely a month after President Omar al-Bashir escaped detention in South Africa, following International Criminal Court (ICC)’s order.

    However, Kuka’s documentary says it all, giving a human face to al-Bashir’s victims at the last Durban film fest and earning nods from viewers and judges at the festival. Thus, at the Award Night ceremony on July 25, Arterial Network’s Artwatch Africa Award was presented to Beats of the Antonov. The Award which was accompanied by a R15, 000 cash prize (equivalent of N234, 230) honours an African film that meaningfully engages with issues of Freedom of Expression.

    Here is how the Artwatch Africa Jury describes the work of the Sudanese filmmaker: “War has brutally divided the peoples of Sudan. This compelling film shows how the power of music, dancing and culture sustains the displaced people living in the remote war-ravaged areas of Southern Sudan. In the face of bombs dropping from the Antonov aeroplanes above, their songs of liberation and militancy are a means of identity affirmation and mobilization. I want to dance, play, and have a normal life, they say, as they exert their claim to freedom and freedom of expression even under the harsh circumstances of war.”

    Interestingly, Arterial Network’s Artwatch Africa project promotes and defends artiste rights and freedom of creative expression. Therefore, Kuku’s award celebrates the transformative and conscientising power of cinema. The same way that works like The Dead Sea by Hindi filmmaker, Leena Manimekelai; Taxi by Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi; Timbuktu by Malian filmmaker, Abderrahmane Sissako and Fuelling Poverty by Nigerian filmmaker, Ishaya Bako found expressions at foreign film festivals.

    As one of the most uplifting films at this year’s DIFF, the Jury acknowledged Kuka’s remarkable two-year commitment in providing witness to the spirited resilience of local communities and ethnic cultures whose rights have been denied within the country of their birth through Beats of the Antonov.

    The documentary tells the story of the people of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan who fought with the South for independence but have remained trapped in a civil war in the North.

    The Antonov in the title refers to the planes that drop bombs on the civilian population there. And as Nuba Reports journalists wrote in The Daily Maverick just after al-Bashir’s escape, “As South Africa dissects the implications of President Omar al-Bashir’s visit and his illegal departure, it’s worth remembering that although the International Criminal Court wants him for crimes committed years ago, the Sudanese president is still in power  and he’s still dropping cluster bombs on civilians.”

    The documentary depicts al-Bashir as waging war “against all the African elements in Sudan.” As CityPress wrote in their review, al-Bashir’s “quest for a purely Arab state leaves the other 156 cultural African groups unaccounted for. Bashir calls these people ‘black sacks’ and vows to wipe them out.”

    Beats of the Antonov has charmed audiences around the world, even winning The People’s Choice Documentary Award at The Toronto International Film Festival and four other international awards.

    Kuka directed and shot the documentary over two years, at immense personal risk. He also produced alongside South African Steven Markovitz, as a co-production between Sudanese production company Refugee Club and South African company Big World Cinema. South African Khalid Shamis edited the documentary with kuka in Cape Town.

    His DIFF award is another defeat on his President, Omar al-Bashir.

  • Do I sound gay?

    Do I sound gay?

    DO I sound gay? Umm that’s the question.

    In many African countries, where being gay has been criminalized, this is a question one would ask in a bid to save themselves. If they are men, they will try to deepen their voices just to prove that they are not gay.

    However, regarding to the viewer’s point of view, David Thorpe’s premiere documentary, which uses the question as the title is different. It’s a journey of self-discovery and improvement that many of you guys in relationships seek after a nasty break up.

    In this case, it was our main man and director Thorpe; after a breakup with his boyfriend, he embarks on a hilarious yet touching journey that sees him confront his anxiety about sounding gay.

    “I’ve been mystified about why I sound the way I do,” Thorpe says in one of the scenes.

    With the help of voice and acting coaches, linguists, celebrities and gay people among others, Thorpe explores the wording and pronunciation dynamics surrounding, the voice that has come to be stereotyped as ‘sounding gay’.  He tries to trace the history of the gay sound and how it got its place in pop culture. These are questions like why weren’t flamboyant performers or Tv characters like Prince or Michael Jackson labelled gay? Why does it matter now anyway? Or what is the gay sound like?

    Do I Sound gay’s strongest strength could be Thorpe’s personal story. It takes centre stage at some point. He asks his family and friends if he has always sounded gay and if not, when did he start sounding gay? One family member can trace that it was around college while a friend says it was at the time he came out of the closet, still, during college.

    From the beginning, Thorpe’s film is meant to be about him and that mysterious journey to find the route of his unhappiness. Though as he goes on, he discovers that many humans are unhappy with the way they sound, especially because they will be subjected to suspicion.

    This film comes at the time when at least a man has been murdered, bullied and beaten in a different continent because of their sexual orientation.  And we see this fear almost run across the men the director chooses to talk to, they are not afraid that they will be stoned as if they are in Uganda, but they do exhibit some sense of insecurity.

    Some feel good when they go to places where people can’t easily tell that they are gay while others wish they would sound more masculine.

    Thorpe’s film though good, touches just a very little topic when it comes to the whole LGBT issue  speech! Yes, it is an important factor that has constantly been used to tell who and who’s not gay but was still too weak to be the prime subject for a feature documentary.

    The bigger picture should have been the different stereotypes like fashion sense, locomotives and certain behaviours that have been labelled gay even before those people say a word.

    Speech in all senses was supposed to be part of characters that would have contributed to the stereotyping narrative but not driving it.

    Singling out speech almost complicated the work for the director because at the end of it all, it still seemed like the question of ‘if he sounds gay’ was answered – yes, he does sound gay and he is indeed gay. But the question of why the stereotypical gay sound fits almost all gay men was never answered. The film is not telling us whether sounding gay is a fad, trend, inherited or learnt.

    But in anyway, Thorpe is convincing. He succeeds at showing the world that many men out there are suffering because of the way they talk, which is a plus, considering his unconventional way of communicating; his film making technique that is out rightly weird especially while interviewing subjects. He could cut to a scene of himself reacting! (Who even does that?) Then the opening credits he recited in his ‘gay voice’, very creative.

    – Andrew Kaggwa, a participant at the Talent Press, Durban 2015 is a Ugandan freelance journalist

  • Omar al-Bashir: Durban to witness another film in exile case

    ONE of the burning political issues in Africa will receive some cinematic review at this year’s edition of Durban International Film Festival which opens on July 16.

    This is the case of Sudan’s current president, Omar al-Bashir, who escaped detention in South Africa last month, following an order by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    Al-Bashir’s case returns to South Africa, and will be evaluated by critical minds and the general public, courtesy of a documentary by Sudanese filmmaker, Hajooj Kuka, who captures the vicious treatment meted on the citizens in Beats of the Antonov.

    Kuka’s documentary, touted as an indictment of President Omar al-Bashir has won The People’s Choice Documentary Award at The Toronto International Film Festival and four other international awards.

    The work which gives a human face to al-Bashir’s victims, tells the story of the people of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan, who fought with the South for independence but now remain trapped in a civil war in the North.

    It is understandable that this film will not show in Sudan. Thus, Beats of the Antonov joins the list of films such as The Dead Sea, Taxi etcetera, which have made waves in exile at different times.

    Indeed, the principle of art in the real sense of the word is not the decorative pictures and crafts that it used to be solely before the renaissance of the 14th and 16th centuries. This has even grown with time and I see it as a revolution of life ignited by activism; I see it as divinely-inspired creativity and in certain cases, an artist’s work became the object or subject of special pilgrimage and reverence.

    Few years back, Indian filmmaker, Leena Manimekelai’s film, The Dead Sea was in exile at DIFF. The flick was a haunting story about the lives of Tamil fishermen and the difficulties they faced in Sri Lanka. That blend of fiction and documentary was a protest against the injustices and ethnic cleansing which is considered a prodigal film by the Indian government and thus was banned.

    One striking line in the movie says; “I have always advocated that the people be armed, but now, I am convinced that not only the people, but the government should be disarmed”.

    It is usually only at film festivals that movies which are denied freedom in their countries of origin get hearing. This way, the filmmaker’s vision of expression is assuaged.

    Recall that Iranian filmmaker; Jafar Panahi, suffered worse fate. Not only were his films banned by the government of his country, he was committed to a six-year prison term and a 20-year ban from filmmaking by the Iranian government for attempting to explore the social situation in his homeland through works that appeal to the Iranian government as state offence. Although convicted, Panahi has been celebrated world over for what he stands for.

    Where are the activist filmmakers in Nollywood? If you remember the story of the first Doyen in Traditional Nigerian Drama, late Hubert Ogunde who had his own share of film activism, you will agree there is need for us to do more.  His play Yoruba Ronu; a satirical account of the strife that plagued Yorubas in the 1960s was banned in western Nigeria for some time but was produced with great success in other parts of the country.

    The political terrain requires filmmakers who should bring to filmic expression, the numerous ills plaguing Nigeria.

  • KSDT: Succour for scarce kiddies’ content

    IN this age and time when the social media, television and digital games are awashed with adult contents; too strong in language, violence and sex details, there is the need to keep children busy with alternatives. Thus, when a new programme, Kids Say TheDarndest Things made debut on the Nigerian screen, I considered it a worthy development.

    This is adding to such offerings as the kiddies’ version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Nnena and Friends, HealthWise, and Work It Out.

    I’m particularly thrilled about these ones because they are Nigerian series and a sharp departure from the Nickelodeon and Disney of this world, with programmes such as Kickin IT, Lab Rats, Jessie, Sam & Cat, Austin and Ally, Dog with a Blog, etcetera.

    Although programmes like Tales by Moonlight, which treated local and cultural themes and others folktales that help to preserve our indigenous languages have since been rested, it is still okay that at least some establishments have deemed it fit to invest in contents that can develop kids’ intellect, knowing this is essential for their formative stage.

    I have often acknowledged that the little that I know today is a factor of my upbringing, and I sometimes imagine if I have had a better foundation. Reason today, I buy books for my kids and pay the cable TV subscription religiously, apart from the necessary parental and religious guidance.

    It is often said that kids are quick to experiment and adapt. They are therefore particularly natural as being the leading indicators of digital media consumption.  And whichever way we want to look at it, television is still the largest time-sucking activity for kids, albeit on the decline. The medium has also been proven by pundits as the best for bringing mass impact on the audience.

    Although Kids Say the Darndest Things is an American series, its adaptation for the Nigerian audience allows for the reality of our social, economic and political situations.

    The second episode left both adults and children reeling with laughter over the weekend as the kids bared their minds on financial matters while reacting to the posers thrown at them by Tony Okungbowa, the host of the show.

    Two of the participants, Shawn and Orinayo were debating financial matters. Shawn tried to explain to Okungbowa that one could withdraw money from an ATM machine without necessarily making a deposit in the bank, but the extroverted Orinayo countered his position, stating that money must be saved for it to be withdrawn.

    Caught between the arguments, Okungbowa turned to Victoria for help, but the agnostic Victoria literally played safe all through the show, as she sat on the fence providing an interesting bridge between the two.

    Away from that financial banter, 12-year-old DamilolaAkani blew the minds of the studio audience with his mesmerizing voice, as he rendered an Opera.

    The patriotic kid, when asked what he eats to enhance his amazing voice, said he owes it to pounded yam, chicken and Eforiro. Damilola did not only impress his audience with his singing skills, he also took to the Piano, striking a few chords to their delight.

    It is not only thrilling that it is a kiddies’ show, it is also a Nigerian series, so to speak.

  • Nigeria in the movie

    THE dearth of quality Nollywood movies notwithstanding, Nigerian fans sure have an alternative in the political dramas that have engulfed the space, predating the 2015 General Elections and now, revealing the most suspenseful theatrical show the best of political analysts couldn’t have guessed.

    In my recent piece, ‘Cut! And filmmakers join the political dance drama’, I didn’t intend it as a mockery of the political talents in our thespians. But now it is. Because I can see that politicians are better actors than the thespians, whom they employed to dance the dance of shame during the intense political campaigns across the country.

    The big losers are the Aso Rock regulars who have abandoned their profession for the National Cake, in the hope that the Jonathan Carnival will last one more term.

    While it is difficult for me to reconcile current shameful happenings as an advocate of CHANGE, it is only reasonable for my critics to endure my latest thoughts; which see CHANGE, not as a sudden transformation but a gradual evolution that sometimes come out of rots- the rots we now experience in the Senate and House of Representatives.

    That said, let the game continue, and let us continue to excite ourselves with these literary reviews, as they unfold each day, by joining the ‘Free Readers Association’ for lousy commentaries at ‘Ile-Epo’ junction, Iyana-Isolo, Jakande Gate, etcetera, every morning. And when the sun sets, get treated to the visuals during the Network News. But we must be diplomatic in interpreting the House Fracas to our children. God helps the chair-throwing politician whose child can spot him in the hullabaloo.

    We must take time to explain to them how suddenly, the thin line in the APC merger became a large crack in the wall and playground for the lizard; how Saraki became an ‘Okocha’ overnight, dribbling his way to the top Senate position; how after power, the party which used the be the umbrella (not PDP) for all is now being jettisoned for individual and personal pursuits. Obviously, there are more questions than answers.

    As painful as it is, we need this comic relief to assuage our sufferings – our fake smiles give us psychological rescue, while our strong will keeps us going as individuals and as a collective. But we must bear in mind that beyond this series, no matter how long a Season Film it is, in it lies our future as an Economy and our unity as a Country.

    My only wish is that during the intervals of our seemingly unending movie, something will happen and change the narrative for better and for real – the kind of ‘realness’ that can guarantee the future of our children and children’s children.

  • Top 25 reasons I sigh about Nollywood

    THIS article is not intended to ridicule or run down the efforts of our growing movie Industry practitioners  but is a keen observation  of a big fan  ( of course I wouldn’t painstakingly write all of this if it weren’t the sincere views of a dissatisfied but optimistic consumer). More so, the views presented here in  is “strictly’ intended for readers with the sixth sense — sense of humor.

    1. Firstly, in the process of writing the caption “top 25 reasons I sigh about Nollywood”, my PC underlined the word “Nollywood “ in red (it just did again), I right clicked and the only option presented was “Hollywood”. Whatever that meant!

    2. Secondly, prior to I always wondered the rationale behind the brand name “Nollywood” which sounds like a cheap copy of the original “Hollywood” the code name for the U.S.A entertainment industry derived from “Hollywood”, a district in los Angeles (city of angels) California, the base of (the first ever ) and major  film studios as well as home to big time showbiz players in the U.S. of A. But then like the saying goes” no idea is original to anybody” (yeah) right (?)! In any case one would have expected that if the brains behind the brand ”Nollywood” were to tap into the concept behind the American brand “ Hollywood”, something like “Iweka road” or Alaba would have been most appropriate cuz we all know they control the industry (in)directly and I mean it literarily…,the very reason 4 sigh number #3.

    3.        (Must I stereotypically say thirdly)? The word filmmaker is etymologically coined from the phrase “film” which originally is a format of shooting (recording) using a transparent perforated thin plastic ( celluloid), and “maker” a professional that shoots in that format as opposed to tape. In view of the above, its kinda amusing when lots of  Nollywood practitioners (save for a few notable names) parade themselves as “filmmakers” (it’s typical of some Nigerians to accord self acclaimed titles on themselves) albeit  they’ve never shot on film (format) be it 8,16,0r 35mm, key word – NEVER! A situation most of them put blame on Alaba boys whom they insist don’t offer beyond a certain amount of Naira for sales/distribution of DVDs sorry VCDs. As such why spend so much to produce a good quality film only to be offered so little? After all; it’s a business venture, nobody wishes to lose right?

    4.        Such people who share views expressed in the later part of #3 are ignorant of the fact that a good film (with attributes such as perfect video and sound quality, storyline and directing) sells itself. How?

    5.        … Hollywood filmmakers don’t thrive on DVD (not to talk of VCD) sales

    6.        … But on film premieres and  box-office. DVDs are meant for those who missed or could not afford premieres.

    7.         Bad sound quality movies (a characteristic of 95% of Nollywood productions) cannot make the big screen (premieres/cinemas). Of course the only way out is DVD sales which eventually puts power in the hands of marketers (Alaba/Iweka road boys).

    8.        Again practitioners who share the views expressed in the later part of #3 just can’t see beyond their noses that to get away from the shackles of those mentioned in the later part of #3, begins with reading and practicing the views expressed in the first part of sigh #3. That way #7 may be avoided, only then will  #5 and #6 be possible, with the first alphabet in #5 changed from “H” to “N”.

    9.        In as much as I hate to say this, 96% of captions for our “home videos” are so not creative as the  give the content away even without of course getting to preview them. Implication? if I can predict the story line of an entire production without preview, of what use is it buying?

    10.      … that is reserving my comments on the ever “too busy” poster designs, an unstylish trend which 98% of home videos are “guilty” off.

    11. With respect to #9 and #10, a simple assessment by me finds over 90% of home videos guilty of flimsy flaws such as;

    12. Familiar storylines, stereotype dialogues (in a few cases) improper tenses and or pronunciations.

    13. 15-20 seconds per shot is their average as against the international standard of not more than eight seconds. There by making scenes seem slow, unnecessarily lengthy, boring and uninteresting.

    14. “Every” home video comes with a second part. The sad part is, thirty minutes into the second part in addition to lengthy commercials, the emphasis is on excerpts of the first part which was basically 20 minutes of home video commercials and 25 minutes of feature production. An act most producers cry out is perpetrated by marketers who do so for extra profit purposes.( somebody please txt #s 3,4,5,6 and 7 to any producer whose production is guilty of #14).

    15. Talking about commercials, most producers seem ignorant of the marketing power of their productions hence brand commercial products free of charge. Whereas those products have large sums of money budgeted for  their promotions by their respective company marketing department? A fraction of which ought to fall into the hands of the producer and probably used to enhance the quality of the said production since there is the outcry of underfunding as a major setback to good productions.

    16. Some Home videos are just too “star”-studded, leaving little or no room for freshmen who could very well play (sub) leads to express themselves. How then does the young grow? That’s a rhetoric begging for attention.

    17. The unnecessary use of incidentals in virtually every scene simply beats me hollow.

    18. When sound track conveys half the story within 15 minutes of play. I wonder what the trill left is.

    19. The art of zooming in and out of objects; is it just me or that is not a substitute for jibs and crane shots?

    20. Please when an actor is seen wearing a navy blue tie in a close-up shot, may it not turn black in a medium  or wide angle shot. Likewise in portraying twenty years later after an incident or scene, may the same actor not look 20 if he was above 15 the previous scene else, sue your continuity guy(yes you can).

    21. My seven year old kid brother recently reminded me “people don’t make love underneath blanket/sheets when nobody’s watching”.

    22. His girlfriend of same age chipped in “once out of the shower, ladies don’t wear towels to dress up if someone’s not watching. Would the camera or D.O.P (presumed not to be visible) be the person? Just me seeking answers to a rhetoric.

    23 “You have the rights to remain silent” is meant to be an admonishment (to say nothing until probably due consultation with lawyer) for the suspect’s good. Not a restraining order to be silent (or be prosecuted for violation) as presented by officer in home videos.

    24. Last but one, practitioners who per chance come across this article, rather than look at the brighter side of it (as constructive criticism ),may grudgingly utter a friend’s favourite adage “opinions are like *** holes, everyone is entitled to one”. But truth be told, this are not just mere opinions but a reflection of the collective yearnings of intellectual consumers of our “home videos.”

    25. Finally, ironically (but sadly) I’m an aspiring Nigerian “filmmaker” whose dad thinks I’m a big joke, cuz he (my father) belongs to the school of thought that “ Nollywood is an industry for  drop-outs and never do wells”. Or could it be cuz he once read my article “Top 25 reasons I sigh about Nollywood”? Be it as it may, he (like the maxim in #24 suggests) is entitled to his opinions.

    –By 02 Njama III is a graduate of Philosophy, University of Calabar. A script writer, producer and up and coming cinematographers/ director.

  • Imperatives for Nigeria’s Culture, Tourism, Broadcast and Entertainment sectors

    THIS is an unsolicited input into the public policy on the Nigerian Culture, Tourism, Broadcasting and Entertainment sectors for the incoming governments at all levels. It gives useful insight into the humongous potentials in all the aforementioned sectors to assist the governments in overcoming our many economic, social and value-perception challenges. If accepted and taken seriously, it will lead to sustainable alternative source of foreign revenue-earner.

    Executive summary and problem statement; The country’s arts, culture, broadcasting and culture sectors in the absence of well-articulated governmental administrative policies and procedures have for long and till now been operating as a huge jungle in which whatever works for the privileged few, either with access to the powers that be or public information platforms are invariably and mistakenly taken as norms, and in most cases supersede even various extant legislations.

    There are already enough laws which if backed up with necessary administrative strategies have the capacity to lead us out of our present woes; reposition the sectors for our governments to maximize their huge potentials to resolve most of our economic, social and value-perception challenges. There is absolutely no need for the incoming administrations to waste further time on new legislations, or setting up committees because the right pathways are clear enough.

    Culture and Tourism

    Nigeria today has 774 constitutionally-recognized local government areas. On the average, every local government has 10 communities and in each community is at least a cultural monument or site presentable as a tourist attraction. The inhabitants of each community also produce goods, services and have lifestyles which to their unsophisticated minds do not have any economic value but in the hands of experts to package for the global market will command considerable appeal.

    Taken together, Nigeria at a glance and for a cursory economic evaluation has 7740 tourist sites and same no of communities whose daily lives and output could constitute our sustainable national cultural tourism programme; serving also as our own unique cultural products for exports. Every week, the country has about 150 locations staging different kinds of cultural events and different cultural monuments that tourists could choose from. It is therefore possible to immediately develop a national cultural tourism index without new legislations, budgets, or setting up committees. All we need do is charge the relevant agencies to immediately chart their implementable time-table to actualize it. A useful incentive to start off is to put all arts and cultural agencies on a 2-year notice of zero budgets with achievable internally-generated revenue for their governments.

    Our arts and culture administrators currently have a wrong mindset that needs re-programming! Their appalling belief is that lack of or inadequate capital budgets hinder them to properly develop and structure our culture for tourism but pray, what do they require capital budgets for? Yes, a little initial seed money is required for preliminary activities but this could be easily sourced either as a bank loan or grants from various commercial enterprises that will also benefit from a structured cultural tourism programme. Most if not all the various ancient sacred temples forming the bulk of India cultural and spiritual tourism sites remain in the inner recesses of the country and accessible only through the same footpaths of many hundreds, if not thousands of years! In the Alps frozen with ice all year round; Switzerland and other countries of the world that mountain-climbers and skiers frequent, their locals are gainfully engaged as guide and trainers. In Italy and Spain, the ruins of their former emperors’ castles are their tourists’ sites.

    Conversely in Nigeria, our cultural administrators want capital budgets to recruit “experts”, erect 5-star hotels and modern highways in their misguided notion that targets only the holiday-makers for tourism but leaves out the core tourists; students, researchers, archaeologists and explorers. We must stop using government money to build hotels around tourist locations or to construct highways because it is wrong! First it detracts from the real cultural value of the locations, which from what obtains in India, Italy, Spain should be in-sittu. Beyond this, hotels and roads constructions are commercial ventures, which with the necessary traffic of tourists will naturally rouse entrepreneurs to do the needful.

    Advertisements and broadcasting

    A former Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission engaged me on a strategy to reposition the broadcasting industry as a veritable source of employments for mainly our youths and veterans of the creative industry. Unfortunately since his unplanned exit, subsequent leaders have been focusing more on the technicalities of frequency allocations which in today’s world is practically useless.

    What restriction is there on a station given the authority to cover a particular region but is available on the net for anyone across the globe to access? The huge social/economic potentials in the area of modeling, products and public advertisements are conveniently ignored. Today companies freely recruit foreign models or produce their advertisements abroad. The cost of a TV programme parading mainly foreign cast and crew with few locals in the name of local content is higher than what many stations grudgingly give 10 Nigerian producers yet we have NBC! Rather our local cuisines and fashions, the foreigners are calling the shots! Now we have a problem of value-perception emulating alien culture and avoidable medical problems emanating from the consumption of foreign products?

    Creative arts and entertainment

    Creative writings and audio-visual productions are intertwined with the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression. Sensible countries therefore steer clear of legislating on those that can or cannot engage in them. Enforceable control and regulation are two-fold; first by the various practioners’ guilds that disallow non-members from operating; like in journalism for journalists only. Second is through the licensed distributors as the business arm.

    They decide what is produced; how and when it gets to the public. The National Film & Video Censors Board is the agency with the legal mandate to regulate distribution. It developed a New Distribution and Exhibition Framework, NDEF for that purpose. Unfortunately, its present leadership believes that the best way to solve a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist! It has therefore tactically abandoned the NDEF, focusing instead on classification and censorship, ignoring the reality that without an operational NDEF, all its decisions on censorship and classifications are of no effect.

    That is why despite yearly budgetary allocations in billions, our public space is still awash with offensive movies and music! To effectively contain all the challenges in the industry, full implementation of NDEF is a must, better to be championed by the Board already legally-empowered but now wholly funded by NEXIM which by its exclusive mandate is responsible for developing and funding Nigerian entertainment products for exports. New anti-piracy law is needless because Nigeria already has one of the best in the world. Absence of licensed operators of the distribution system to administer and simplify its enforcement is the issue. The NFVCB and the rudderless Film Corporation must immediately be excised from government funding.

    —Mr. Yinka Ogundaisi is a writer, filmmaker and marketer.