Nollywood is coming! What lives and films the mysterious Nigerian cinema, dreaming of ousting Turkey

The African film industry is called Nollywood (similar to Hollywood and Bollywood). Statistically, Nollywood production is already ahead of the United States and only slightly behind India. Initially, the term referred only to cinema from Nigeria, but recently Nollywood has grown considerably and has included production from other states on the continent (e.g. Ghana).

Nollywood presents at least a thousand premieres a year, which are still little known to the European public, because they do not enter the large distribution. However, the situation is changing: firstly, in recent years English has become the working language of African cinema along with Yoruba, and secondly, more and more films from Nigeria and Ghana are “shooting” in festivals, drawing attention to Nollywood.

Nollywood has become famous not only for the abundance of its products, but also for the difficult history of its formation.

If in Russia the film industry was going through difficult times in the 90s, Nigerian cinema at that time was just beginning to develop actively, and against the background of total poverty and endemic crime. People always need a vacation, even in the most difficult times.

Cinema for Nigerians has become not only entertainment for the weekend, but also an opportunity to express themselves and earn money legally – although, of course, Nollywood fees are not enviable, because the average budget for a feature film in Nigeria does not exceed $20,000. . But getting into the street movie cast in this country is as easy as shelling pears, and you can also join the real actors guild!

It is true that filming even the simplest melodrama can turn into an extreme sport due to a power outage or a raid by a criminal gang. Such “un-Hollywood” conditions add exoticism to Nollywood products, but do not make them uncompetitive at all. On the contrary, Nigerians study hard and try very, very hard.

As you can already understand, the plots of movies (soap operas are rarely shot in Nollywood so far) are very close to people: the main conflicts revolve around daily life. Love dramas, family problems, poverty, political conflicts, corruption, the desire for a better life and a complete education are all favorite subjects of Nigerian and Ghanaian directors.

They also have a simple rule: all Nollywood movies have a happy ending. The sick are better. lovers get married, bandits end up in prison. Most heroes, no matter what difficult and hopeless situation they find themselves in, always find their happiness and achieve their goals.

Nigerians are actively cooperating with representatives of other countries. For example, one of the most popular Nollywood films, “Half a Yellow Sun”, which chronicles the life of African families during the time of the civil war, is the result of joint work with the United Kingdom . The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival where it received very positive reviews.

Now, the latest in Nigerian cinema can be found on Netflix: one of the platform’s hits was the film “Quote”, which very credibly exposes the problem of bullying in educational institutions.

Another pearl, the film “93 days”, based on real events and tells the fight of doctors against the terrible Ebola virus which hit African countries in 2014.

The film “King Among the Boys” reveals the story of businesswoman Alhadzhe Eniola Salami, who was once associated with the underworld and, after breaking up with it, tried to build a successful public business. The film was so loved by Western audiences that a sequel was later released on Netflix as a miniseries. The creators of the service see this as a big step towards popularizing Nollywood in America.

One can discuss at length whether Nollywood will occupy a certain niche like Korean, Turkish or Indian cinema. No one can predict with precision, but Nigerian cinema definitely has potential – and, of course, Nollywood characters themselves are ready to join the battle for a new audience. The realism of what is happening, the relevance of individual stories about the difficult life of local people, the touch to the heart, the good quality of shooting and, of course, the national flavor – all this may well interest the Russian audience .