The first film shown in Nigeria was in 1903 at Glover Hall, Lagos, while the first film shot in Nigeria was in Jos, Plateau State, in 1904. The film was titled Palaver. Thereafter, the Colonial Film Unit came into existence and popularized film-showing through mobile cinema vans. The cinema-going culture was sustained with British and American exploits.
Movie making has existed in Nigeria since the early 1970s, largely championed by the Yoruba school of playwrights and actors due to the region’s strong theater tradition The movies were products of individual efforts without any assistance from government or its parastatals, this may have account for the sporadic rates of release. Film equipment and processing laboratories took a long time to get established in Nigeria. And following the various military regimes that took over the reigns of power, filmmaking never became an economic and cultural priority as it did in other countries. Nigerian filmmakers have always gone it alone.
Indigenous Film Production and Its Journey to Prominence
the structure of the film industry in Nigeria evolved from three crucial socio-economic stages: the colonial/pre-independence period, the post independence period and the post indigenization decree period. As Hyginus Ekwuazi, a film scholar and critic states in his book, The development of film industry in Nigeria, “The first film screenings in Nigeria took place at Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos , on ten consecutive nights from 12 August 1903.Film as a medium of mass communication and entertainment is essentially a colonial inheritance.” Emphasis was on distribution and exhibition. Some critics have argued that productions undertaken in the colonial period were documentaries used to promote the colonial government’s policies on agriculture, infrastructural development and such issues. Some Nigerians, including Adamu Halilu, Fajemisin, A. J. Atigba, and Mallam Yakubu Aina, were sent to study in the Accra Film Training School, Ghana. 1975 is significant in Nigeria ’s cinema history as this was when truly indigenous full-length feature films emerged. This was with Ola Balogun’s Amadi(shot in Igbo language), and Sanya Dosumu’s and Wole Amele’s Dinner with the devil (1975). Other notable early works are Bisi Daughter of the River, and Eddie Ugbomah’s The Great Attempt, which was unfortunately censored by the authorities.
Decline Sets In With the devaluation of the naira and introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme, it became impossible to shoot on celluloid or sustain the theatres. This greatly affected cinema attendance and most of the theatres became dilapidated, poorly ventilated, and were mostly regarded as dens for criminals. The few cinema houses existing either had to close shop or were taken over by religious bodies. Based on these, TV took a foothold as a preferred medium of family entertainment.
Producers, in response to the scarcity of foreign exchange, reverted to drama to survive. In the early 1990s, Solomon Eze and Ade Ajiboye shot improvised stories with camcorders which were later transferred to VHS tapes but Ken Nnebue and Ken Ogujiofor turned this into a commercial engagement with the production of Living in Bondage, an Igbo home video, in 1992. Felix Agwu, a leading scriptwriter based in Lagos stresses that, “People are really keen to see their amazing history relayed on video. There were so many stories to tell that are important for Nigerians. Film producers saw a gap and jumped straight in, making low-cost films which were marketed directly to viewers. Even today, television stations in Nigeria want local producers to pay them to broadcast their movies. As a result, television has become a way to promote the release of a new video title instead of a viable distribution outlet.” Renowned actor cum producer, Jide Kosoko, submits thus: “All the records at our disposal show that a Yoruba movie was the first to be made into home video. We started from the stage when our fathers, Hubert Ogunde and others started the traveling theatre groups entertaining people with drama, dancing and other things. From that point we graduated to television productions where we improved on things that cannot be achieved on stage. This is the more reason why we said Hubert Ogunde remains the father of commercial theatre in Nigeria . Ola Balogun, Duro Ladipo and Ade Love also played significant roles in commercial filmmaking in Nigeria when they came out with Ajani Ogun in 1976. Because we have been able to build our viewership over a long time, we have been very successful in other African countries as well.”
Kosoko continues: “We are also the architects of our own misfortune. Patronage at the theatres then was very high. The filmmakers would take a film to the cinema on a weekend, say, Friday to Sunday. By Monday, the film would be out in the market, selling on video. Naturally, people resented this and rather than go to the cinemas, waited for the film to be released and bought it at a cheaper rate.” Normally, a film’s commercial lifespan should begin with a box office or cinema release, then video release, then broadcast on fee-paying television, and finally on public television. Producers and marketers would generate the appropriate promotion and publicity to maximize profitability out of each phase. The Nigerian experience with the video culture so far has shown that without piracy, there are huge potentials for making money in the industry. Tunde Kelani, renowned cinematographer, comments that many professionals like him decided to take advantage of whatever opportunities video technology could offer. “I hold the position that we filmmakers have a responsibility to document our contemporary history, and we would have no excuse not to do so. The advances in digital technology are beginning to blur some of the dividing lines existing between celluloid and video. Because I was aware of the limitations of analog video, I continued to quest for a more appropriate and more affordable medium for filmmaking. Hence, I followed the various developments in digital technology with keen interest and took careful note of their effects on the video medium. “Due to these advances, it is now quite possible to talk confidently about digital filmmaking without introducing the ’snubbed’ notion of video and I have taken full advantage of this development to play my self appointed role of documenting Nigeria ’s contemporary history to the best of my ability. In fairness to many of my colleagues who refused to work in video, had digital technology not delivered some of the new and exciting possibilities in filmmaking, Nigeria might as well have kissed the art of filmmaking goodbye. Now we have an appropriate and widely available technology for filmmaking, but unfortunately, many of Nigeria ’s trained filmmakers have been left behind by these technological developments. Yet the audience is questing for films that express their reality. They are longing for films that they can understand and can relate to, films that fulfill their fantasies and spur their aspirations.
“The Nigerian film audience does watch Hollywood but the realities that surround them constantly remind them that there are alternative worldviews based on their own indigenous knowledge systems, their beliefs, and hopes. Unfortunately, enough films that express these realities are not being made. The audience is beginning to adopt a DIY approach. Hence, the logic behind Nigerians making 1000 films in one year, to my mind is that it is the disappointed audience that is making these films. Why do I say this? Most of the people that make Nigerian videos do not have any training whatsoever in filmmaking, neither in the art nor the techniques. Even the related arts such as literature, painting, sculpture or even acting have not been well reflected with any level of structure in these films. Yet we Nigerians love our films because they portray our familiar instincts even if in the form of a caricature. It is noteworthy, but really sad that despite Nigeria ’s internationally recognized literary prowess, extremely few, if any significant collection of these Nigerian films are adapted from works of Nigeria ’s literary artists. Sadly and hardly surprising, all my work from my television days, and the earlier Nigerian films shot on traditional celluloid films, spanning more than twenty years have disappeared. I have no access to these films because we no longer have the structures supporting the medium. I am however, aware that Nigerian films are scattered presently in film laboratories and archives in Europe and America .” A Fresh Beginning The over 140 millions Nigerians have the Bruce brothers to thank for the re-birth of cinema in the country. With their doggedness in entertainment business, these brothers have made it fashionable once again to go to see films in public cinemas.
In a recent media interview earlier in the year Ben Murray-Bruce, a US-educated Nigerian entrepreneur, explains, “I’ve wanted to bring cinema back for more than 20 years but the timing wasn’t right. … There were cinemas in Lagos in the 1960s, but they began going out of business in the 1970s partly because of the difficulties of operating under military dictatorship. Cinemas closed down across the country and today many are used as Pentecostal churches or Islamic education centres.” However, that has all changed, thanks to the Silverbird Cinemas. The Bruce brothers did not just bring back cinema, they also brought class into it, showing internationally recognized movies and incorporating upscale paraphernalia.
Obviously satisfied with the emergent culture, Bruce enthuses that, “Whenever I go out now, people come up to thank me. What gives me the most pleasure is seeing married couples in their 30s, 40s, and 50s coming here, watching movies and holding hands. I also see men with their kids. I once saw a General and asked him: ‘What are you watching?’ He was embarrassed and said: ‘Scooby Do. I brought my four-year-old kid. He wouldn’t let me rest.” The efforts are now an encouragement to others as new Cinema houses are springing up almost every other day and the older ones are rising up to the challenge.
There have also been serious improvements in the quality of the films, notable amongst which is Kunle Afolayan’s Figurine which is currently being viewed only in cinemas. While M2 could not reach Afolayan to speak on the highly successful film as he was out of the country, it is on record that the big budget film which premiered in UK and US cinemas took four years to produce. A statement made available to M2 from the producer shows that shooting took three months, while post- and pre-production took another four and three months, respectively. In addition, it took almost a year after the script was ready to complete the production process. Much can only be expected of a movie that is meant for the cinemas.
Other producers are already towing that line. With the way things are moving now, cinema is strongly digging the ground on which to lay a firm foundation.
Culled from: M2 online.
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