darkerthanblue

Hello Beautiful People,

tonight this film, Nollywood Babylon is screening at the National Film Board, 150 John St at 7pm.  It is free, so check it out.  If you have no idea what Nollywood is read below.

A bit of history on the Nollywood Industry

Cinemas had been established across Nigeria during British rule, but were not maintained during military dictatorship. Although, the government demonstrated dedication to the film industry through the establishment of the National Film Corporation, and in 1995 the National Film Institute that aims to preserve Nigeria’s motion picture heritage. Federally funded films are not accessible to the mass of the population, as they are more prevalent in arts and film festivals abroad. In 2004, Silverbird  Cinemas complex opened in Lagos, the largest, most populated city of the country. Cinemas have followed in other urban centers, such as the capital Abuja, making this leisure activity geared toward the elite class, in it’s locations, cost and vast amount of imported Hollywood blockbusters.

In the 1940’s, Yourba performing arts emerged as a variety of folk opera derived from; social satires, historical events, and mythological or religious stories passed down through oral traditions.  Plays built on these thematic beginnings, evolving to include themes of contemporary culture and politics. In the 1960’s, Yourba traveling theatre among others, became filmed by local television stations to fill the quota of sixty percent local content transforming much of Nigeria’s performing arts into the Nollywood industry.

Nollywood emerged in the 1970’s independent of national and state influence or funding. The household video industry emerged with untrained film makers, VHS film equipment and projectors that allowed for informal viewings resulting in the industry being propelled by local commercial markets and local audiences.

Nollywood productions appeal to a wider cross section of the Nigerian population, due to its distinctive flavours reflecting the films’ regions of production, and easy accessibility. Hausa films emerging from the Northern Muslim region have an affiliation with Bollywood cinema, in its use of indigenous language, song and dance sequences, and an emphasis on non-western modernity. In comparison to Yourba and Igbo films that are often in English, and use the mysticism  associated with their indigenous religions, and urban lavish settings to comment on contemporary life.  The 1992 film “Living in Bondage” which was filmed in English was enormously popular, initiating Nollywood’s global recognition.