In every continent, there is at least one big industry name. Hollywood for America, Europe has too many industries, Bollywood for the Indians and Pakistanis beating every Asian movie industry, and Nollywood is the biggest here in Africa. These 21 facts about the industry will blow your mind.

1. Unofficially, Nollywood started movie productions in Nigeria over fifty years ago. So long.

2. The Name "Nollywood" originated from a New York Times article the name 'Nollywood' as we now know it today can be traced to an initial usage of the word in a 2002 article [b]by Matt Steinglass [/b]in the New York Times, where it was used to depict Nigerian cinema, and Nigerian/African diaspora movies considered to be associated with Nigeria, or made to capture the Nigerian market.

3. In 1926, Palaver was the first film recorded in Nigeria, but it was proudly racist. "Palaver, "the first-ever Nigerian movie, would seem to them like a needlessly long skit shot in Nigeria's Middle Belt. The film was shot entirely by the British filmmaker George Barkas in 1926 "among the Sura and Angas tribes on the Bauchi Plateau," according to the movie's opening credits.
4. Historically, Latola Films was Nigeria's first and earliest indigenous film production company. It started movie production as far back as 1962.

4. The first recorded Movie was Kongi's Harvest by Wole Soyinka, with Wole Soye acting as a President

5. Calpeny Nigeria Ltd spearheaded the production of the first Nigerian indigenous feature movie, Kongi's Harvest (1970), which was based on a play written by Wole Soyinka and directed by Ossie Davis

Ade Ajiboye (Big Abass) produced SOSO MEJI, the first Nigerian Video film, in 1988. It was shown publicly at Tinuade Cinema in Oworonshoki, Lagos

6. But in terms of the movie that "opened the market" and showed that a video-based industry was possible, Okechukwu (Okey) Ogunjiofor's film, Living in Bondage, has been described as 'the inaugural Nollywood film. Not this remaking you watched on Netflix

7. Visionary young trader named Kenneth Nnebue, with a passion for films, initiated an innovative idea of broadcasting NTA content using VHS (video home system) technology

8. The first actual home video in Nollywood was not produced until the early 1990s, precisely in 1992, with the release of a movie titled Life In The Slum.

9. The movie was funded by Kenneth Nnebue, a prominent electronics marketer at that time.

10. Nollywood is the second biggest movie industry in the World. Behind Bollywood.

11. The industry produces about 50 movies weekly, which translates to an average figure of 2,500 movies annually

12. Richard Mofe Damijo is considered to be the highest-paid actor

13. Nollywood produces more movies than Hollywood.

14. Nollywood isn't a Nigerian-only movie body. It's the bigger of the two, with Kannywood being the second.

15. Nollywood is Africa's most searched name on Google.
16. The first New wave film to be shown at a cinema was the Yoruba-language film Irapada (2006) by Kunle Afolayan, which was screened at the Silverbird Galleria in Lagos.

17. Nigerian Movies received a total of 165,000 searches every month, and Nollywood Movies totaled 49 500 searches

18. A lot of Ghanian movies are copyrighted to Nollywood due to its market's size

19. Nollywood's tentacles spread to movies produced in English, Igbo, and Yoruba.
20. Lionheart by Genevieve became the first Nollywood film on Netflix and the first to be nominated for Oscar (but was later disqualified for more English conversations).
21. Nollywood movie Citation, a film by Nigerian director Kunle Afolayan, was named the best international film at the 2022 National Film Festival (NFF) in the United Kingdom


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MjbOOvNSZg

I wonder why anyone should be arguing about who started Nollywood in Nigeria... Maybe we should start arguing who started Hollywood and Bollywood, too. Lol...

I saw a viral post by David Hundeyin dated July 2022 about this whole Nollywood/Yollywood thing and I'm beginning to agree with him.

ChemicalReaction:
I wonder why anyone should be arguing about who started Nollywood in Nigeria... Maybe we should start arguing who started Hollywood and Bollywood, too. Lol...

I saw a viral post by David Hundeyin dated July 2022 about this whole Nollywood/Yollywood thing and I'm beginning to agree with him.

You're right. It's only those that document that can really get the real stories out.

No one should dispute that Yoruba started Nollywood.

FirmcoNg:
No one should dispute that Yoruba started Nollywood.