Written By: MIM!—According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Nigerian film industry (better known as Nollywood) has overtaken Hollywood and closed the gap on India, the global leader in the number of movies produced each year, to become the second largest producer of films, proving that storytelling (even in digital format) lies in the heart of African culture. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) , Bollywood—as the Mumbai-based film industry is known—produced 1,091 feature-length films in 2006. In comparison, Nigeria’s moviemakers came out with 872 productions—while the United States produced 485 major films. Catch a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in Nollywood, by watching the clip below from the documentary film Welcome to Nollywood.
If you've never seen a Nollywood film, you are in a for a treat! Take a look at the trailer below for director John Uche's Mind Game (set to be released this month), starring two of Nollywood's biggest stars, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Van Vicker.
Having a high output is very different from having high quality; Nollywood has a lot of growing up to do. But I think they are moving in the right direction.
@Annonymous, I agree that there's definitely a quality versus quantity issue with Nollywood, and the quality issue is very much driven by cost. But at the same time, part of the charm of Nollywood films (at least to me) is the fact that they're not so polished and glossy, like Hollywood films. They seem that much more accessible and relatable (even if the storylines can sometimes be farfetched). I can walk into a room and immediately recognize the film as a Nollywood film because of the "finish of the film" and dramatic acting. (Much like I can recognize a Bollywood film because of the way that they are filmed, and of course all the singing.)
There's a lot of unique charm to Nollywood and I hope that as they grow and more and more comparisons are made to Hollywood, the movies keep that unique touch that made them "Nollywood" to begin with.
I've seen this Welcome to Nollywood Docu and found it very interesting... some characters were very inspiring and other is was like WTF??? It was a matter over passion for the artform and a greedy desire for money by any means necessary.
Djaa, I saw the Welcome to Nollywood documentary and couldn't believe how these films are made. LOL at the action director who sat on top of a speeding car to film his high speed chase. The guys who are trying to do better films don't have the funds, but I applaud their creativity. We can't all be Tyler Perry.
naijagal u are so right - The professional guys who are trying to do better films DONT HAVE THE FUNDS, yet we get bombarded with abundant uneducated village champions who get money in their hands somehow and think just cos of that they can get behind a camera and call themselves producers/directors and we the audience have to suffer with bombardment of foolish useless movies and pure time wasting movies.
So yes we may have passed HOLLYWOOD in terms of numbers, but lets not forget 3/4 of the movies that come out of nollywood and gollywood (ghana) are just quantity and pure junk and waste of money to even purchase to buy. As long as am alive i will continue to review movies and alert movie watchers which ones are junk and which ones are worth a dime. WE SHALL ALSO ALERT THE AUDIENCE THE CULPRITS PRODUCERS WHO LOVE TO PUT OUT JUNK JUST TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK - we shall mention names. We the audience have thrown too much money away buying junk.
Visit my blog www.myafricanmoviereviews.blogspot.com
my friends blog
www.nollywoodforever.com
to be alert of all the JUNK out there. dont let these statistics faze you - WE THE AUDIENCE ASK FOR QUALITY - WE DONT CARE FOR QUANTITIES OF JUNK.
@ Tell It Like It Is: Your blog is fantastic! We'll be sure to follow-up with you for our "Behind The Blog" feature to interview you and hopefully get more of your thoughts on Nollywood.
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9 comments:
Nollywood films are my favorite. They are played all the time on Kenyan television and are more popular than American films.
Yay!, they're really doing great.
Having a high output is very different from having high quality; Nollywood has a lot of growing up to do. But I think they are moving in the right direction.
@Annonymous, I agree that there's definitely a quality versus quantity issue with Nollywood, and the quality issue is very much driven by cost. But at the same time, part of the charm of Nollywood films (at least to me) is the fact that they're not so polished and glossy, like Hollywood films. They seem that much more accessible and relatable (even if the storylines can sometimes be farfetched). I can walk into a room and immediately recognize the film as a Nollywood film because of the "finish of the film" and dramatic acting. (Much like I can recognize a Bollywood film because of the way that they are filmed, and of course all the singing.)
There's a lot of unique charm to Nollywood and I hope that as they grow and more and more comparisons are made to Hollywood, the movies keep that unique touch that made them "Nollywood" to begin with.
I've seen this Welcome to Nollywood Docu and found it very interesting... some characters were very inspiring and other is was like WTF??? It was a matter over passion for the artform and a greedy desire for money by any means necessary.
Djaa, I saw the Welcome to Nollywood documentary and couldn't believe how these films are made. LOL at the action director who sat on top of a speeding car to film his high speed chase. The guys who are trying to do better films don't have the funds, but I applaud their creativity. We can't all be Tyler Perry.
we have a long way to go - good luck to the african movie industry,
naijagal u are so right - The professional guys who are trying to do better films DONT HAVE THE FUNDS, yet we get bombarded with abundant uneducated village champions who get money in their hands somehow and think just cos of that they can get behind a camera and call themselves producers/directors and we the audience have to suffer with bombardment of foolish useless movies and pure time wasting movies.
So yes we may have passed HOLLYWOOD in terms of numbers, but lets not forget 3/4 of the movies that come out of nollywood and gollywood (ghana) are just quantity and pure junk and waste of money to even purchase to buy. As long as am alive i will continue to review movies and alert movie watchers which ones are junk and which ones are worth a dime. WE SHALL ALSO ALERT THE AUDIENCE THE CULPRITS PRODUCERS WHO LOVE TO PUT OUT JUNK JUST TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK - we shall mention names. We the audience have thrown too much money away buying junk.
Visit my blog
www.myafricanmoviereviews.blogspot.com
my friends blog
www.nollywoodforever.com
to be alert of all the JUNK out there. dont let these statistics faze you - WE THE AUDIENCE ASK FOR QUALITY - WE DONT CARE FOR QUANTITIES OF JUNK.
@ Tell It Like It Is: Your blog is fantastic! We'll be sure to follow-up with you for our "Behind The Blog" feature to interview you and hopefully get more of your thoughts on Nollywood.
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