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Nollywood as literary narrative of the Nigerian experience

By Chukwuma Anyanwu
13 November 2016   |   3:13 am
Indeed, the narrative voice of Nollywood is more eloquent, more accommodating to the supposedly illiterate rural dwellers than their literate counterparts.
Guardian Litarary Series

Guardian Litarary Series

Nollywood, the adopted controversial name of the Nigerian video film industry, has not only come to stay, it has violated the hegemonies of Hollywood and Bollywood, the two known woods before it, to establish its own narrative voice. It has equally forced the attention of the film world on itself because as the experts have said, no global discussion of the film industry would be considered complete without any mention of Nollywood, for good or for bad.

Nollywood has done in less than three decades of its existence, 1992-2016, what the celluloid era in its more than eight decades of existence, 1903-1991, (88years), could not do for Nigeria-giving the industry a name; a commendable achievement if ever there is one. Recall that in 1995, Nigerian filmmakers were disgraced in Ouagadougou, the Burkina Faso capital, during an event organized by the Federation Panafricaine des cineastes-Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI), for not having an umbrella body. Indeed, any such festival taking place anywhere in Africa, even the world, without the active participation and involvement of Nollywood practitioners, would need to have its organizers queried for inadequate or poor organization.

Literature as representation which manifests in storytelling comes in different forms and different media. One of such media is the film, movie, or motion picture, which is the electronic means of storytelling which effectively came into existence in the 20th century. The movie, is therefore, visual literature which unlike its written counterpart does not discriminate against the literate and the illiterate, who did not have the benefit of Western education and cannot read as a consequence. Nollywood, as visual literature, has given impetus and sense of belonging to “illiterates” in our rural communities, especially, that there is no need to despair, and that they can catch up with their literate relations resident in the cities in terms of identifying with their lived experience through literary representation. All it takes is to get access to a movie, and one is as informed, edified and entertained as the next person.

Indeed, the narrative voice of Nollywood is more eloquent, more accommodating to the supposedly illiterate rural dwellers than their literate counterparts. This is because the latter mainly see Nollywood as a mere academic exercise-to harangue its content, themes, techniques, acting styles, technical know-how, in fact, the academic interest appears mainly to be a complaint box of what should be and what ought not to be. On the other hand, the rural dwellers have more time with the movie and are quite up to date with its latest offerings. Armed with a 950v (I better pass my neighbour type), generator, four or less liters of fuel mixed with a little oil, the rural dwellers can do without public electricity as he/she slots in the latest Nollywood DVD or VCD into the machine connected to his twenty-four inch television set, and settles down to watch/read and participate in the event. For the acutely uneducated, watching a Nollywood movie makes him/her a participant because he/she more often than not knows the story and can well predict the next frame even before it comes. He/she also does not hold back guiding a novice while watching.

The act is watch/read because Nollywood movies are visual literature as noted earlier, literally and figuratively. Indeed, watching the movies and reading the translations in sub-titles, one is at a loss as to which is more interesting and engaging. The sub-titles constitute another academic exercise as one struggles with what the characters are saying against the backdrop of what appears on the screen as its translation. It is more interesting if the viewer is familiar with the language of the movie’s dialogue, as he tries to make meaning between what he/she is hearing, its badly sub-titled version, and its array of grammatical blemishes. Be that as it may, the idea is that Nollywood has come to tell or re-tell the Nigerian experience to the Nigerian people in the Nigerian way. It is the Nigerian narrative point of view and it has effectively and uniquely closed the yawning gap between the educated and the uneducated. Coupled with this, the movies of Nollywood, unlike the conventional trend in movie making are generally “wordy”. In other words, they are talkies, and as such, are story/dialogue driven, rather than action driven as films should really be.

But beyond all this, one needs to ask, is the Nollywwod narrative a rendition of the Nigeria experience, or perhaps, a fictional creation of another world, another country populated by people who are remotely connected with us? This question becomes very necessary given the incidents which occur in many of these movies. Do we just fold our arms and allow ourselves to be carried away by the glamour and the glitter which are associated with show business? Watching some of these movies on television can make one cringe. Yet, some of the stars and experienced actors in the industry feature in them and it makes one wonder, again, where their supposed experience is and why they should not bring it to bear on the producers and directors. Or, perhaps, “they are merely pencils in the hands of the creators”? (WAP, permit the use, please). In a particular movie, you see where a wife and mother has no regard for her husband because there has been some kind of economic power shift; where she encourages her daughter to sell herself to the highest bidder, where father and daughter shamelessly frolic in the same business of who should out do the other in carrying young girls and sleeping with old men, to the knowledge of one another. No iota of moral scruples whatsoever, all in the name of living the good life. Materialism is the god that Nollywood has created and worships. Is that the story of Nigeria, is that what we want the world to expect from us? Whatever happened to our hard work, perseverance against all odds, etc?

In one movie, Eze Nnunu (2015?), you see father and daughter engaged in a competition of moral debasement. There’s no control, no authority, just moral morass and baseness. Then, you ask, is this our society, our culture? Where a father watches his daughter frolicking with his age mate while he himself does same with his daughter’s age mate? The subtle violence in some of these movies is far more pronounced than the outright violence in Hollywood films. What and when does the censor’s board come in? Again, does the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) not have a schedule and rating, to determine when certain categories of movies should be aired? Or, is the body bereft of any power to control the cable networks? These issues should be looked into; unless of course the categorization of movies is a mere hogwash and window dressing to deceive the public.

There is no doubt that Nollywood has taken on the Nigerian story and there is need for its practitioners to take up the challenge, which necessitated the birth of the Nigeran film. The focus of the pioneers of Nigerian cinema on its evolution was to use it to correct and counter the misconceptions of western cinema, especially Hollywood, about Africa and the entire Black world. This is no mean task and serves as sufficient reason the government should not leave the movie business solely in the hands of independent moviemakers. These filmmakers are in business to make money; hence many of them dance to whoever could assist them with sponsorship. It happened in the collaborative years of the celluloid era, it will happen again because movie making must survive irrespective of who calls the shots.

Nollywood has grown to its present stature and height virtually unassisted and without government involvement. This should change as it is practically the first and may well be the last point of contact some people would have with Nigeria. It would be good therefore, for Nigeria to be properly represented and this cannot be effective when a moviemaker is battling with content, suitable equipment and funding. And if he succeeds in overcoming these demands, he still has to contend with the challenge of piracy, arguably the greatest menace and bane of movie making in the country. It is killing, to say the least, for any business. So, beyond instituting awards to reward moviemakers, and providing sponsorship for them, government should put in place relevant policies to make the censor’s board and the Broadcasting Commission more effective and relevant. We can no longer fold our arms and say that it is the private business of the moviemakers. The moviemakers can be treated with indifference at the expense of all of us because the story they are placing on the global market is the story of all of us.

The necessity for us to be concerned can be related in our attitude to special visitors or guests. When a particularly important personality is paying us a visit, we go the extra mile to prepare by keeping our environment clean; prepare special delicacy that is removed from our daily routine, dress attractively and make serious efforts at being polite with smiling faces even when our hearts are bleeding from the effort. The reason is because we want to look better, present a good image so as to be seen differently and in a positive way by the special guest. In so doing we counter his former impression if such was negative. We score a point within the first few minutes of his arrival because the power of the primacy effect is difficult to erase once established.

It is the same way we should treat our movies. They are our cultural ambassadors, representing us in the comity of nations. Our movies unlike our written literature are visual narratives, they speak, they show how we live and expose us to the world that ordinarily does not hold high opinions of us. It would then be a great disservice and a tragedy if our moviemakers refuse to embark on research to present us to a world that is curious about us or may have negative opinion of us, in a more positive light, better than we really are. It would be tantamount to playing the magicians of Pharaoh to the plagues of Moses. This is why movies that are leaving the shores of the country should be meticulously censored and approved by the relevant bodies before they are jetted out. It is the story of all of us, our experience, our life; and we cannot justifiably allow it to be frittered away on the altar of lucre.

The argument may be and it has been much touted and often presented that the movies are a reflection of the society. Well and good, but, in this same society, there is a saying that scarcity of prey in the forest does not compel a lion to eat grass. In a similar vein, there are people in this country who have remained steadfast irrespective of the travails of life. Hollywood films ensure that the offender is punished no matter what it takes; it does not mean that there are no criminals in America. Bollywood films are replete with love, yet we do not see the characters engage in kissing let alone explicit and graphic romance. There is need therefore, for proper guidance. Our narrative must adopt a style that is unique and makes us look better to the outside world, notwithstanding what we actually are. After all, we put on clothes because of strangers since everybody knows what/how his/her siblings’ butt looks like.

If government steps in and shows interest beyond doling out stipends and occasionally getting practitioners together to sing campaign slogans things are bound to change for the better. The colonial filmmakers of the mobile cinema vans era, used to end their films with “God bless the Queen”. Ours can, in addition to the existing, “To God be the glory”, adopt some sort of national icon in its opening, alongside the production company’s logo. It is a mark of identity, a thing of national pride to see, say, the Benin mask/FESTAC symbol in all Nollywood movies to at least, help recognize and situate them as Nigerian; even if all other contents are ethnic! It is clear that unlike Hollywood, which is a village turned cosmopolitan city by the filmmakers of America, there’s no place known as Nollywood, hence the symbol, if adopted, can be our signature tune,

The need for this suggestion is justified because Nollywood has gone beyond Nigeria, willy-nilly, to embrace the entire African continent, if not the Black world. It is our mouth piece, our story that has gone to the world. It behooves us to ensure that the story is tailored to benefit us and bring us glory and not shame. The beauty of the industry covers every aspect of our lives. It is an employer of labour, it engages the attention of politicians, academics; it appeals to the illiterate even more than the educated. In Nollywood, everybody is a part of the industry because it exposes us to those aspects of ourselves that we would rather sweep under the carpet. And since we are all involved, a part of the main, why should we not assist these cultural ambassadors of our nation, the movie makers by providing them with the much needed assistance in whatever way we can?

• Dr. Anyanwu teaches in the Department of Theatre Arts at the Delta State University, Abraka.

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