The BBC Africa Kick Bus arrived Nigeria on
Monday, June 7, 2010. On board were Alex Jocana,
presenter of the BBC ‘Have Your Say Programme’,
his technical team and cynicism.
After taking a swipe at Nigeria’s importance to
Africa, they cornered Nollywood practitioners at
Ojez Restaurant in Surelere to deepen the wounds
of her scorn. Only they took it a tad too far.
Mr Jocana asked if Nollywood helping or harming
African film making capability? While the question
appears innocent enough, subsequent questions
gave away the intention of the programme. The
ladder leaned heavily on the wall of cynicism. But
this is what we expect of the western media. They
follow the stench of negative news in Africa as
avidly as a carnivore does the fresh scent of blood.
During the Golden Age of Hollywood from the start
of the silent era in the late 1920’s to 1950’s, African
filmmakers were not allowed to make films due to
colonialism. Some of the most popular early films
about Africa including The African Queen, Tarzan,
and King Solomon's Mines foisted upon Africa a
stereotype so horrid, they called it the “Dark
Continent”.
When the European invaders gave us a flag and a
song and told us we were free, Africans began
telling their own stories. Ousmane Sembene’s La
Noire de (Black Girl) gained international acclaim.
In 1969, the African film festival (FESPACO) was
established and enlarged the frontiers of African
film. Many of these early films dealt with subjects
like colonialism and mundane African issues. The
film makers raised funds mostly by groveling before
International agencies and governments amenable
to Western influence. The films were mostly elitist
and excluded the masses in the main though they
were shot on 35mm.
The summary of the history of African film does not
take a prize for inspiration. How do we continue
telling the story of colonialism 50 years after most
of the colonialists are long dead? How much
progress is there for the African film if it continues
to grovel for funds from Shylock lenders and/or
exacting donors and subservient governments? And
how do we establish a film culture when it excludes
the very people for whom film is made? Is it wise to
insist on shooting on 35mm in a continent where
cinema houses are being converted to churches
and warehouses?
These were the thorny issues the emergence of
Nollywood addressed. Seventeen years later,
Nollywood has achieved global acclaim - eat your
heart out Hollywood!
Nollywood created a whole new paradigm with
which African film can be measured. It addressed
issues that found relevance in people’s reality. It
sympathised with their trials; it provided them
company in their pain. For youths in Ghana and
Nigeria, Nollywood has given wings to their dreams.
Nollywood destroyed the stereotype created by
Tarzan and King Solomon’s Mines that Africa was a
race of savages. Nollywood is the new African film.
Nollywood challenged the norm and took the story
to the people that matter. Ahmed an analyst on the
show from Kenya put the point succinctly. The
success of Nollywood lies in the fact that the
audience are accepting what they make. Another
analyst from New York also gave a vivid account of
the influence of Nollywood in Uncle Sam’s own
country. The Asians especially she said are making
a fortune pirating Nollywood movies.
While other African countries were closing their
cinema houses due to the prohibitive cost and the
sophistication shooting on 35mm demands, coupled
with a poor distribution framework in Africa,
Nollywood began shooting direct to video. This
method was lampooned at first but now it has
become the method of choice for African
filmmakers. In this way Nollywood saved the
African film from extinction. South Africa, with a film
that has won an Oscar and several nominations has
not even achieved the acclaim Nollywood has
garnered.
Yet these are not the best of times for Nollywood.
The session with Nollywood practitioners in Ojez
Resturant revealed to a large extent, the rot in the
system. It indicated that perhaps, more than
anything else, Nollywood’s biggest problem is that it
has become a victim of its own success.
I listened with shame as Nollywood practitioners
came a short crawl away from using their fists in
the heated debate. Amidst jeers, Emeka Ike insisted
he was AGN President. Zack Orji took the
microphone and rebutted. Femi Durojaiye
introduced himself as AGN Secretary General so
many times, he began to call himself National
President of AGN. Tari West got stuck in the middle
of former Presidential, and 2nd Vice Chairman, and
currently the 1st vice presidential chairman of...
(She forgot what association she purportedly chairs
– all of them fighting over a piece of carcass they
are fast turning Nollywood into.
Absence of credible structures, government’s
indifference and aloofness, poor technical know-
how and the substitution of professionalism for
nepotism are conspiring to bring Nollywood to her
kneels. Virtually all the commentators took a swipe
at scriptwriters yet few are willing to pay for top
notch writers instead they rely on a distant cousin
in distant high school. The problem with Nollywood
has taken on Sisyphean proportions. The industry
needs creative thinking and pragmatic actions
rather than the thousand tones of noise currently
emanating from its practitioners. "
http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/8043/12/
nollywood-is-preserving-the-african-film.html
(Quote) (Report ) 2 Likes (Like)The BBC Africa Kick Bus arrived Nigeria on
Monday, June 7, 2010. On board were Alex Jocana,
presenter of the BBC ‘Have Your Say Programme’,
his technical team and cynicism.
After taking a swipe at Nigeria’s importance to
Africa, they cornered Nollywood practitioners at
Ojez Restaurant in Surelere to deepen the wounds
of her scorn. Only they took it a tad too far.
Mr Jocana asked if Nollywood helping or harming
African film making capability? While the question
appears innocent enough, subsequent questions
gave away the intention of the programme. The
ladder leaned heavily on the wall of cynicism. But
this is what we expect of the western media. They
follow the stench of negative news in Africa as
avidly as a carnivore does the fresh scent of blood.
During the Golden Age of Hollywood from the start
of the silent era in the late 1920’s to 1950’s, African
filmmakers were not allowed to make films due to
colonialism. Some of the most popular early films
about Africa including The African Queen, Tarzan,
and King Solomon's Mines foisted upon Africa a
stereotype so horrid, they called it the “Dark
Continent”.
When the European invaders gave us a flag and a
song and told us we were free, Africans began
telling their own stories. Ousmane Sembene’s La
Noire de (Black Girl) gained international acclaim.
In 1969, the African film festival (FESPACO) was
established and enlarged the frontiers of African
film. Many of these early films dealt with subjects
like colonialism and mundane African issues. The
film makers raised funds mostly by groveling before
International agencies and governments amenable
to Western influence. The films were mostly elitist
and excluded the masses in the main though they
were shot on 35mm.
The summary of the history of African film does not
take a prize for inspiration. How do we continue
telling the story of colonialism 50 years after most
of the colonialists are long dead? How much
progress is there for the African film if it continues
to grovel for funds from Shylock lenders and/or
exacting donors and subservient governments? And
how do we establish a film culture when it excludes
the very people for whom film is made? Is it wise to
insist on shooting on 35mm in a continent where
cinema houses are being converted to churches
and warehouses?
These were the thorny issues the emergence of
Nollywood addressed. Seventeen years later,
Nollywood has achieved global acclaim - eat your
heart out Hollywood!
Nollywood created a whole new paradigm with
which African film can be measured. It addressed
issues that found relevance in people’s reality. It
sympathised with their trials; it provided them
company in their pain. For youths in Ghana and
Nigeria, Nollywood has given wings to their dreams.
Nollywood destroyed the stereotype created by
Tarzan and King Solomon’s Mines that Africa was a
race of savages. Nollywood is the new African film.
Nollywood challenged the norm and took the story
to the people that matter. Ahmed an analyst on the
show from Kenya put the point succinctly. The
success of Nollywood lies in the fact that the
audience are accepting what they make. Another
analyst from New York also gave a vivid account of
the influence of Nollywood in Uncle Sam’s own
country. The Asians especially she said are making
a fortune pirating Nollywood movies.
While other African countries were closing their
cinema houses due to the prohibitive cost and the
sophistication shooting on 35mm demands, coupled
with a poor distribution framework in Africa,
Nollywood began shooting direct to video. This
method was lampooned at first but now it has
become the method of choice for African
filmmakers. In this way Nollywood saved the
African film from extinction. South Africa, with a film
that has won an Oscar and several nominations has
not even achieved the acclaim Nollywood has
garnered.
Yet these are not the best of times for Nollywood.
The session with Nollywood practitioners in Ojez
Resturant revealed to a large extent, the rot in the
system. It indicated that perhaps, more than
anything else, Nollywood’s biggest problem is that it
has become a victim of its own success.
I listened with shame as Nollywood practitioners
came a short crawl away from using their fists in
the heated debate. Amidst jeers, Emeka Ike insisted
he was AGN President. Zack Orji took the
microphone and rebutted. Femi Durojaiye
introduced himself as AGN Secretary General so
many times, he began to call himself National
President of AGN. Tari West got stuck in the middle
of former Presidential, and 2nd Vice Chairman, and
currently the 1st vice presidential chairman of...
(She forgot what association she purportedly chairs
– all of them fighting over a piece of carcass they
are fast turning Nollywood into.
Absence of credible structures, government’s
indifference and aloofness, poor technical know-
how and the substitution of professionalism for
nepotism are conspiring to bring Nollywood to her
kneels. Virtually all the commentators took a swipe
at scriptwriters yet few are willing to pay for top
notch writers instead they rely on a distant cousin
in distant high school. The problem with Nollywood
has taken on Sisyphean proportions. The industry
needs creative thinking and pragmatic actions
rather than the thousand tones of noise currently
emanating from its practitioners. "
http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/8043/12/
nollywood-is-preserving-the-african-film.html
(Quote) (Report ) 2 Likes (Like)The BBC Africa Kick Bus arrived Nigeria on
Monday, June 7, 2010. On board were Alex Jocana,
presenter of the BBC ‘Have Your Say Programme’,
his technical team and cynicism.
After taking a swipe at Nigeria’s importance to
Africa, they cornered Nollywood practitioners at
Ojez Restaurant in Surelere to deepen the wounds
of her scorn. Only they took it a tad too far.
Mr Jocana asked if Nollywood helping or harming
African film making capability? While the question
appears innocent enough, subsequent questions
gave away the intention of the programme. The
ladder leaned heavily on the wall of cynicism. But
this is what we expect of the western media. They
follow the stench of negative news in Africa as
avidly as a carnivore does the fresh scent of blood.
During the Golden Age of Hollywood from the start
of the silent era in the late 1920’s to 1950’s, African
filmmakers were not allowed to make films due to
colonialism. Some of the most popular early films
about Africa including The African Queen, Tarzan,
and King Solomon's Mines foisted upon Africa a
stereotype so horrid, they called it the “Dark
Continent”.
When the European invaders gave us a flag and a
song and told us we were free, Africans began
telling their own stories. Ousmane Sembene’s La
Noire de (Black Girl) gained international acclaim.
In 1969, the African film festival (FESPACO) was
established and enlarged the frontiers of African
film. Many of these early films dealt with subjects
like colonialism and mundane African issues. The
film makers raised funds mostly by groveling before
International agencies and governments amenable
to Western influence. The films were mostly elitist
and excluded the masses in the main though they
were shot on 35mm.
The summary of the history of African film does not
take a prize for inspiration. How do we continue
telling the story of colonialism 50 years after most
of the colonialists are long dead? How much
progress is there for the African film if it continues
to grovel for funds from Shylock lenders and/or
exacting donors and subservient governments? And
how do we establish a film culture when it excludes
the very people for whom film is made? Is it wise to
insist on shooting on 35mm in a continent where
cinema houses are being converted to churches
and warehouses?
These were the thorny issues the emergence of
Nollywood addressed. Seventeen years later,
Nollywood has achieved global acclaim - eat your
heart out Hollywood!
Nollywood created a whole new paradigm with
which African film can be measured. It addressed
issues that found relevance in people’s reality. It
sympathised with their trials; it provided them
company in their pain. For youths in Ghana and
Nigeria, Nollywood has given wings to their dreams.
Nollywood destroyed the stereotype created by
Tarzan and King Solomon’s Mines that Africa was a
race of savages. Nollywood is the new African film.
Nollywood challenged the norm and took the story
to the people that matter. Ahmed an analyst on the
show from Kenya put the point succinctly. The
success of Nollywood lies in the fact that the
audience are accepting what they make. Another
analyst from New York also gave a vivid account of
the influence of Nollywood in Uncle Sam’s own
country. The Asians especially she said are making
a fortune pirating Nollywood movies.
While other African countries were closing their
cinema houses due to the prohibitive cost and the
sophistication shooting on 35mm demands, coupled
with a poor distribution framework in Africa,
Nollywood began shooting direct to video. This
method was lampooned at first but now it has
become the method of choice for African
filmmakers. In this way Nollywood saved the
African film from extinction. South Africa, with a film
that has won an Oscar and several nominations has
not even achieved the acclaim Nollywood has
garnered.
Yet these are not the best of times for Nollywood.
The session with Nollywood practitioners in Ojez
Resturant revealed to a large extent, the rot in the
system. It indicated that perhaps, more than
anything else, Nollywood’s biggest problem is that it
has become a victim of its own success.
I listened with shame as Nollywood practitioners
came a short crawl away from using their fists in
the heated debate. Amidst jeers, Emeka Ike insisted
he was AGN President. Zack Orji took the
microphone and rebutted. Femi Durojaiye
introduced himself as AGN Secretary General so
many times, he began to call himself National
President of AGN. Tari West got stuck in the middle
of former Presidential, and 2nd Vice Chairman, and
currently the 1st vice presidential chairman of...
(She forgot what association she purportedly chairs
– all of them fighting over a piece of carcass they
are fast turning Nollywood into.
Absence of credible structures, government’s
indifference and aloofness, poor technical know-
how and the substitution of professionalism for
nepotism are conspiring to bring Nollywood to her
kneels. Virtually all the commentators took a swipe
at scriptwriters yet few are willing to pay for top
notch writers instead they rely on a distant cousin
in distant high school. The problem with Nollywood
has taken on Sisyphean proportions. The industry
needs creative thinking and pragmatic actions
rather than the thousand tones of noise currently
emanating from its practitioners. "
http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/8043/12/
nollywood-is-preserving-the-african-film.html
(Quote) (Report ) 2 Likes (Like)

Chizos!!!
Which kind long post b dis na