This is Africa

Until very recently little has been known outside of Africa about Nigeria's booming film industry 'Nollywood'. In 2006 an article published in the Guardian cited Nollywood as the third largest film industry in the world with earnings bringing in more than $200 million dollars a year. Currently, according to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report, the Nigerian film industry has overtaken Hollywood and closed the gap on India - the global leader - in the number of movies produced a year. Nollywood films are being churned out at an astonishing rate where anywhere from 500 to 1,000 movies are made annually. While Nigerian films are slowly making their way into the international market having being featured in a number of international film festivals, their history dates as far back as the 1960's when television broadcasting just began in Nigeria. Sadly as Tayo Aderinokun noted in the spring 2004 issue of Africa Update which focused on Nigeria's film industry, "...we [Nigeria] had neither the technology nor the means to do our own films and had to be satisfied with mostly foreign fare." Unfortunately, Nigeria's younger generation began to be more rooted in the Bruce Lee and James Bond culture than in their own.

By the early eighties Nigeria like many countries throughout Africa, were faced with a growing epidemic of poverty and crime. The few cinema houses that existed had to close down due to rampant streams of crime or were taken over by religious bodies. New laws also began to restrict foreign television content. Nigerian filmmakers began to fill this void by producing local productions that were meant for home viewing. Experts have credited Nollywoods success to the producer's reliance on video instead of film which substantially reduced the costs of production. Another pivotal point in Nollywoods beginnings was the 1992 release of Living in Bondage. The movie told a tale of the Occult which was an instant hit throughout Nigeria and set a stage for other directors to produce films. More recently however, the rise of affordable digital filming and editing technologies has stimulated Nigeria's film industry. Each week, thirty new titles are distributed to Nigerian market stalls and shops reaching a potential audience of fifteen million people in Nigeria and about five million people outside. The films are usually shot in English which make them easily accessible to all of English speaking Africa and its Diaspora.

Most importantly though, Nollywood's rise represents an uncommon cultural perspective telling African stories by African producers to African audiences. The plots usually deal with everyday issues that the common African can relate to such as HIV / AIDS , prostitution, corruption, women's rights and other topics with concern to them. As UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura explained, "Film and video production are shinning examples of how cultural industries, as vehicles of identity, values and meanings can open the door to dialogue and understanding between peoples, but most importantly to economic growth and development. If you haven't had a chance to see a Nigerian film, check one out - you might just be surprised. They are real depictions of what Africa is today!