The Nigerian Movie Industry ( Nollywood ) - The Origin ( History)

By Augusta Okon
Here is an abridged version (yet richly
enlightening) from one of the articles i wrote
concerning this subject matter.
Film exhibition began to thrive during the
Colonial era, with Glover Memorial Hall
playing host to a range of memorable films
viewed by "potential Nigerians", in August
1903. However, the non-availability of proper records
reflecting the title of the debut film exhibited has created a
lapse in the precedent stock. Notwithstanding the lacuna, the
way had been paved for the exhibition of more foreign films at
the Hall and other designated venues.
The emotionally traumatizing "Master - Servant" relationship,
evident in the constant assaults, batteries, intimidation,
segregation, victimization, carried out by the Colonial masters
on the colonized, with darkened clouds of resentment,
vengeance, thirst for freedom, giving way to splattering drops
of such thoughts, instinctively projected through the colonized
intermittent in-subordinate actions, began to spread amongst
the blacks. The British knew they had to thread with caution if
they still wanted to play "god" in their lives when films such as
Tales of Manhattan, Trailer horn, Tarzan series began to stir
up a revolution in the hearts of Blacks across the globe.
Aware of the lethal power of insurgency which could be
unleashed through the Film medium, the British out of fear for
their lives and possible loss of the Queen's sovereignty took
the bull by the horn, and swiftly created a Colonial Film
Censors Board (FCB) in 1933 to censor and classify films
before they were released for visual consumption by the
public. Following the establishment of the board, Films such
as "The primitive, primitive man, Dixie, Buffalo Bill, The Keys
of the Kingdom, Sleepy Town Girl were tagged 'suitable' to be
watched, while Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Clive of India, The Isle
of Forgotten Sins, House of Frankenstein were considered
unsuitable for viewing.
The Censor's body underwent a transformation process into
the Federal Board of Film Censors (FBFC) from the
aforementioned, and the laws from which the transformed
body derived its powers ranged from the 1948 Cinematograph
Laws of Nigeria, the Cinematograph Laws of 1963, to the
1963/64 Cinematograph Law and Regulations. The present
National Film and Video Censors Board came into existence by
virtue of decree, now Act 85 of 1993. The advent of Nigeria's
Independence (1960) and the Republican status (1963),
heralded the dawn of a new era in all sectors.
"The Yoruba Travelling Theatre Group" of the 60's and 70's
can be referred to as the "Fountain Head" of movie
productions in Nigeria. The veterans with great Theatrical
skills and great performances took their works beyond the
stage, and dove into the sea of film productions using the
Celluloid format. Notable film makers on the Roll call of
Honour during the Celluloid boom era of the 70's include Ola
Balogun, Eddie Ugbomah, late Herbert Ogunde, Adeyemi
Afolayan a.k.a Ade Love (father of Kunle Afolayan of the
Irapada fame), Ladi Ladebo, Moses Adejumo, Adebayo Salami
and Afolabi Adesanya.
The list of documented films produced during the 70's era and
transcending somewhat into the 80's is simply astonishing
and goes to show that the Movie Industry has been around
much longer, contrary to the '1992 belief syndrome' most
have been injected with. Such works include Kongi Harvest
(1971), Alpha (1972), Bull Frog in the Sun (1974), Amadi
(1975), Ajani Ogun (1975), Muzik Man (1976), Bisi, Daughter
of the River (1977), Ija Ominira (1978), Aiye (1979), Kadara
(1980), Jaiyesimi (1980) Efunsetan Aniwura (1981), Cry
Freedom (1981),Ija Orogun (1982) Owo L'Agba (1982)
The cost of producing films in that era was financially back
breaking, with Nigerians further frustrating the efforts of the
filmmakers by opting to watch films of occidental and oriental
origin at the Cinemas and Exhibition centres, rather than the
locally produced ones. The Cowboy films were exhilarating to
watch while the Chinese films paraded amongst others, the
Legendary "Bruce Lee" in (Lo Wei's, The Big Boss (1971), Fist
of Fury (1972), Way of the Dragon (1972), Enter the Dragon
(1973), The Game of Death released in 1978) who exhibited
Martial Arts dexterity, obviously a fighting technique alien, yet
fascinating to us at that time.
Indian films in the late 60's and well into the 70's paraded
renowned names like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra Singh Deol,
Mumtaz, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil kapoor, Hema Malini, and
produced hits such as "Bobby", "Sholay", "Kabhi Kabhi",
"Dharamveer", "Amar Akbar Anthony". Their stars displayed
great acting skills against the backdrop of love themes, and
ear pleasing songs coupled with synchronized dance steps,
produced with sound and special effects, though incomparable
with what obtains today bought over the indigenes loyalty for
their movies.
Thus, the Movie Founding Fathers began to face the
challenges of recouping their investments, which gradually
became virtually an impossible task, an anthem they
constantly rendered much to the discomfort of potential
financers. They counted their losses and licked their wounds
sustained in the financial battle with every film they released.
The deluge of VCRS in the 80's created a paradigm shift from
the Cine to the VHS format, which made productions easier,
faster and cheaper by a milestone in comparison to the
former. Cinema houses and other Exhibition centres were
finally shut down and the Baton of Cine film making slipped
from the hands of the Founding founders as they attempted to
hand over the movie baton to the next generation within the
stipulated Baton Exchange Zone. The dream of becoming a re-
nowned Movie Industry was shattered when the flow of the
Film Relay cycle was broken.
Home Videos were produced which served as an alternative to
the cinemas, and the name naturally stems from the fact that
you could seat within the comfort of your home and watch the
movies produced in the VHS format via your VCR. Film Makers
capitalized on the gains of the Home Video concept offered,
and began producing movies using the Yoruba language as
the means of communication. However, the year "1992" has
overtime been widely accepted as the triggering period of
Home Video productions, with Ken Nnebue's "Living in
Bondage" said to be the first movie made for commercial
purposes using the Igbo/English language.
The movie no doubt struck the "Movie Well", which invoked a
mass exodus of people from other spheres into the art of
movie productions, having seen the opportunities that lay in
the Gold mine region. Thus, did the Home Video Industry
tagged "Nollywood" emerge.
The fact that "Living in Bondage" was ascribed with the honour
of being the first movie made for commercial purposes and
the one upon which the Home Video revolution was allegedly
founded on, culminating into Nollywood, didn't go
unchallenged. Late Alade Aromire before his death, ignited a
controversial fire, insisting that his and not Ken's movie ought
to have been conferred with such an honour. When confronted
by a reporter on the issue he'd stated that Ken had produced
over 40 Yoruba movies, and had started with "Aje N'yami".
There had been a flourishing movie industry before he came
on board, so ken couldn't have started it.
The confusion stems from the Censors board of the day,
whose hands were amputated by the Law it drew its powers
from, (1963/64 Cinematograph Law and Regulations). The
powers conferred on it to regulate the Industry did not extend
to "Home Video". The present National Film and Video Censors
Board (NFVCB) did not exist till 1994. On this raging issue,
Late Alade Armoire produced movies such as Ekun, Omije (pts
1-3), Obirin Asiko, Ayo ni o, Adun, Orire which were released to
the public between 1985 and 1991.
Ken Nnebue still insists that his movie "Living in Bondage" was
the first Home Video movie made for commercial purposes.
His stand on the matter is rather shaky, having prior to the
production of Living in Bondage sponsored commercial
movies in Yoruba language such as Ina Ote, Aje N'iyami and
others. Let's not forget the barrage of Yoruba TV dramas that
were mass produced on VHS tapes and sold to the public
before 1992. One can't fail to mention the legendary Eddie
Ugbomah's movie "The Great Attempt" (1989), which would
have made history as the 1st Nigerian cine movie in the video
tape format to have been censored by the defunct Federal
Board of Film Censors (FBFC) based on a "special concession"
granted him officially by the permanent secretary of the
Federal Ministry of Information and Culture at that time.
Unfortunately the strong contents projected in the movie were
considered unsuitable for public viewing by the Board, hence
the movie was never released. Tunde Alabi -Hundeyin's
"Iyawo Alhaji" is officially on record as the first commercial
(direct to exhibition hall) video film to be censored and
classified by the NFVCB in 1994 at the National Theatre,
(Cinema Hall) Iganmu. Despite the controversial fire raised,
the global publicity given to "Living in Bondage" over the years
invariably imputed the movie into our memory banks as the
flag bearer of the Home Video revolution of all times. People,
irrespective of Nationality, race, gender, and tribe are
confronted with challenges on a daily basis. Some of these
problems are of a global nature, while others are peculiar to
various societies. Movies offer people the opportunity of
telling their own stories, free from alien interference.
Nigerian movie producers leveraged on this and produced
movies projecting our lifestyle, culture, local fashion, burning
issues, problems plaguing our society, irrespective of the
choking stench of tribalism perceived in all sectors. Movies
were made for the viewing pleasure of Nigerians initially,
(before the mass exportation craze), with messages to inspire,
motivate, reprove, and correct anomalies especially in the
Political, Social systems, to eschew violence and all forms of
evil.
The tactical use of the English language as the
communication tool, marketing strategies and execution
through the use of trailers via T.V, Posters (now banned in
Lagos State), recorded a boost in sales, and expanded the
viewership base beyond the shores of our Nation to countries
such as Ghana, Togo, South Africa, Kenya, U.S.A and even
the U.K.. Unfortunately, the movies churned out at an
alarming rate were technically deficient in key areas
considered as germane in the production process.
The popular "shoe string budget" tag has become
synonymous with the Industry's antecedent of making movies
on extremely low budgets compared to other movie bodies in
other countries, ($10- $15,000 initially), but currently stretches
to $25,000, with a microscopic number of producers further
stretching the seemingly financial limit to N 7,10,20 Million
and more. The movies were and are still shot dominantly
between 10-12 days, via Beta cam (now HDV cameras), were
produced in the VHS format (now VCD & DVD), replicated in
mass and sold by the Marketers who also doubled as
Distributors.
Over a thousand movies were being churned out yearly by
producers and utterly amazed by the staggering statistical
data of movie productions, the International movie spotlight
was shone on the Multi Million naira Industry "Nollywood".
The Industry's net worth as at 2008 stood between an
estimated $250 and $300 Million dollars. It is worthy of note
that a Global cinema survey, conducted in 2006 by the
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and released sometime in
May 2009, ranked Nollywood as the second largest producing
movie body in the world behind Bollywood and ahead of
Hollywood based on the numerical data of the movies
produced.
So long... auggiepo@yahoo.com
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Submitted On May 04, 2010