Nollywood- A work in Progress

Nigerian movie industry famously known as Nollywood is one of the best thing that has happened to entertainment in Nigeria and Africa as a whole with the fame, awareness and exposure it is creating, one takes a look at the ups and downs facing the industry and the reason why some people criticise it.  Rome was not built in a day so also is Hollywood; it took so many years of hard work to get to where it is, reason being that Hollywood started making film since the early 20th century when there was hardly hi-tech technology compared to now and since then they have developed and continually set the benchmark for film industries around the world to follow and Nollywood can learn a lot from in order to achieve further growth as well as to consolidate huge success it has enjoyed in its short stint of existence.

With the awareness, exposure and improvement of technology Nigerian movie Industry has improved tremendously and has gained a respectable recognition. The industry has so far produced great actors as well as people who know what it takes to make good movies and soaps that are capable of getting you spell bound with good twist and suspense and constructively written scripts, movies that are acclaimed worldwide and have taken a mention in the international movie festival and movies that should make Nigerians to be proud.

Nollywood can boast of world class and very naturally talented actors and actresses that are beginning to take up roles in Hollywood and are now acting with the big Hollywood name like Isaiah Washington, Vivica A. Fox just to mention a few. I have become a big fan and aside my other favourites like sports and documentary, Nigerian movies now rank alongside aforementioned as an ultimate entertainment choice.

Despite the accolades and the admittance of progress achieved critics would feel otherwise as there are still a lot of grounds to cover and it's easy to pick flaws from the concepts, theme and the often repetitive and recycling of story lines. What makes Hollywood films stand out in contrast are the attention to details and pushing of boundaries to replicate close to real life scenes in films that leaves almost no room for criticism or mistake. Nollywood will do very well in emulating these standards as films produced in two weeks will hardly achieve these high level set by Hollywood.

Surely, huge investments and resources makes a massive difference in the standard of movies churned out in Hollywood but regardless of these constraints, Nollywood can start to look into attaining the next level in its history by ensuring there are no compromise in the quality of scripts, the cast, and all other ingredients required that will ensure films produced are of the highest standards and quality that will finally start to make the international scene take notice and to get its first nomination in the best foreign film category for The Golden Globe and Oscar awards.

To attain this standard the Nigerian film industry do however have a budding problem to address as it appears acting is now being viewed by even those who do not have natural talent to be actors suddenly regarding going into acting as an avenue and easy target to get rich. Not that it’s wrong to get rich through acting the problem however lies in the fact that there are so many actors featuring in Nigerian films that are not up to scratch and this doesn’t bode well for the quality expected on a consistent basis so as to make the industry stand out.

Quality control is lacking in film productions and the blame surely lies with the producers, directors and sponsors or the players in the industry. An instance where hunger for fame at all cost without the necessary checks in casting as well as compromising unprofessionally renders the basic quality required for a good film totally inexistent. This is not unconnected to the urge to generate quick return on investment by the investors. Such impression derails from financial logic as a properly produced film will not only shatter the Nigerian box office (that is if such exist) i.e. the local market but will break into international markets beyond countries where tremendous success is already enjoyed and aside countries that has a high base of Nigerians.

Another problem as earlier stated is the length of time it takes to produce a film; it certainly leaves room for concern if a film is produced within two weeks and a month as you needn’t a soothsayer to predict its bound to be substandard in so many areas. Except perhaps the script writers, producers and directors have a misjudged opinion and conclusion that majority of viewers do not have the IQ to appreciate a highly technical and quality script and in some instance a spellbound suspense that is as often with Nigerian films very easy to predict the scene to follow.

Going into the archives Things fall apart still stands out as a properly produced film that has all the ingredients of quality and world class and that which portray to the rest of the world a beautiful and positive image and the richness of Nigerian culture enough to boost Nigerian Tourism which unfortunately is still very underutilised.

A situation where 80% of Nigerian films depict diabolical themes is very appalling and worrying indeed; that unfortunately is the message the industry is sending out both locally and internationally and in a lot of ways doesn’t speak well of the players in the industry. Some of the other flaws that can easily be spotted again which infringes on quality are the typical clichés where robbery scenes has to be shot in an incomplete buildings, poor costume selection, poor picture quality and sound, unethical behaviours by some film producers and directors (without going into details they know what they do wrong when auditioning); others include film series with unconnected title making it horrendous to follow each part and poor location. The list unfortunately is inexhaustible.

It is difficult to keep a balanced criticism as regards Nollywood as the aforementioned flaws far outweigh the success the industry has enjoyed in its short history. There is no denying the huge potential and the vast success that can still be achieved by the industry financially and non-financially if it moves away from producing low budget films.

It is pertinent for the industry not to remain stagnant and perceive that the ultimate goals and objective have been achieved. The core players will do well to push themselves beyond boundaries yet to be accomplished and start to give other internationally acclaimed film industries the run for their money so it can start to receive a respectable mention globally.

Having meted out all these criticisms let’s not forget that what Nollywood has so far achieved defies all expectations to a large extent and kudos to all the contributors, players and those associated with the industry that have kept fans of the industry home and away happy. 

Please feel free to leave your comments.

Dozie Ashiegbu. www.mybluefalcon.blogspot.com