The Boom of the Nigerian Movie Industry

Sep 21, 2021 11:00AM ● By Anand Subramanian

Nollywood, as Nigeria's film industry is colloquially called, produces 1500 films each year on average. It is often regarded as the world's second-largest filmmaker. They make around 50 movies each week, second only to Bollywood in India, and more than Hollywood in the United States. Although its profits are not as high as those of Bollywood and Hollywood, Nollywood produces an amazing $590 million each year. The industry is a substantial component of the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, which contributed 2.3 percent (NGN239 billion) to Nigeria's GDP in 2016. The Nigerian film industry is assisting in the creation of jobs in a country whose economy is mostly based on oil and agriculture. The sector presently employs over a million people, making it the second-largest employer in the country behind agriculture. The World Bank is now supporting the Nigerian government in creating a Growth and Employment in States initiative to promote the entertainment business, as well as other industries, in the belief that if the industry is effectively managed, a million additional employment might be generated in the sector. In this article, we shall discuss its origins, development, and significant presence on the world stage.

Figure 1 - Fincho was the first Nigerian film to be shot in color in 1957. Source - Google.

The Nigerian film business began several decades ago. It consists of English language films (Nollywood), the Yoruba film industry, Kano film business (Kannywood), which makes films in Hausa, Igbo, and other indigenous languages of Nigeria. Fincho was the first Nigerian film to be shot in color in 1957. Historical filmmakers such as Ola Balogun, Hubert Ogunde, Jab Adu, Moses Olayia, and Eddie Ugboma made the earliest Nollywood films. Later that year, in 1984, Wale Adenuga's Papa Ajasco became Nigeria's first blockbuster and one of the country's major cinematic spectacles. In three days, the film grossed around 61,000 nairas. Even though African film began in the early 1960s and developed tremendously in the 1980s, the industry's crazy prolificacy is due to a more grassroots collective in the early 1990s. In 1992, a straight-to-video dramatic thriller called Living in Bondage featured a man who sacrificed his wife to a demonic sect and was afterward plagued by her spirit. It began a new age in Nigerian cinema, showcasing what could be accomplished with a limited budget and decreasing the entrance hurdles for many creative filmmakers.

Figure 2 - Poster of “Living in Bondage”. Source - Google.

Nigeria's various cultural traditions and lifestyles provide a wealth of material from which the country's filmmakers skillfully draw to portray basic stories of daily life that appeal to Nigerians as well as audiences across Africa and the African diaspora. These colorful and engaging stories catch the viewer's attention. They reflect on their own life experiences and have a strong moral tone. However, younger generations of filmmakers are focusing on more serious societal topics such as adultery, domestic violence, and cancer. Nollywood is often regarded as a representation of the breadth and depth of Africa's cultural variety. It allows Africans to tell their own stories. Nollywood films are now available worldwide on smartphones, Netflix, and YouTube, as well as on African streets. It is positioned to become a global brand, similar to Bollywood or Hollywood, or martial arts films. This is despite the numerous challenges that filmmakers may confront, such as power outages, gasoline shortages, political unrest, and so on.

The industry's informality and lack of a plan for capturing a return on investment has discouraged alternative kinds of private finance and slammed the door on potentially profitable distribution prospects in international markets where the chain of title is required. However, in recent years, filmmakers who are not influenced by marketing have begun to emerge. With business ideas, the appropriate relationships, and tenacity, these filmmakers can acquire funding from both public and private sources. Several of these independent filmmakers' films have the necessary chain of title agreements in place. Several are currently being shown in Nigerian theatres and select locations across the world. Because of the theatrical release, directors may now earn money from ticket sales.

Figure 3 - Different Nollywood Movies. Source - Google.

Recognizing the film industry's enormous economic potential, the Nigerian government has collaborated with foreign organizations and put aside almost 300 million USD in public money to assist the sector in recent years. Increased private investment in digital streaming platforms for licensed Nollywood films has made illicit online distribution increasingly challenging. Meanwhile, rising international awareness of African films and performers has heightened interest in the business as a whole, even luring American stars to appear in Nigerian films. Against all odds, Nigeria's low-budget film industry has grown into a multi-million dollar industry in just 20 years. An increasing number of high-quality movies are making their way to international film festivals and premiering in key film markets, while top Nigerian performers are achieving international acclaim. Despite the industry's many ongoing challenges, Nigerian filmmakers' resilience, creative ingenuity, and entrepreneurship, combined with the industry's distinct style and wide public appeal, meaning that it is no longer a question of whether or not a Nollywood film will become a global box office hit, it is merely a matter of when.

Anand Subramanian is a freelance photographer and content writer based out of Tamil Nadu, India. Having a background in Engineering always made him curious about life on the other side of the spectrum. He leapt forward towards the Photography life and never looked back. Specializing in Documentary and Portrait photography gave him an up-close and personal view into the complexities of human beings and those experiences helped him branch out from visual to words. Today he is mentoring passionate photographers and writing about the different dimensions of the art world.