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.
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