An expert in film directing, editing and cinematography, Daniel Eronlan, has explained how young Nigerian film-makers can excel in the movie industry, taking a queue from his personal experience and hard work.

Eronlan in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday explained how he has edited over a 100 films, amongst them are; “Beckma, different worlds, love and Cancer, done with You.”

Some of these projects he said, have been nominated and won awards across the globe, which saw BECKMA win best film at the African international film festival, while a 100 OF US Documentary on Boko Haram survivors was nominated for the best documentary category in the ongoing AMVCA 2023, the girl that stood for emotional intelligence in Africa.

“My recent short film, Rami Ciki, a film on vesico virginal fistula was shortlisted in the WHO film festival “Health for All 2023” he added.
Eronlan said challenges like funding have peeved the movie industry for a while, especially during his journey as a film-maker.

He called on the federal government to build infrastructures for local filmmakers.

According to him, “This saying is anything but a hidden knowledge in the film ‘Making a good film requires funding’. For me, It has been a daunting experience. Local investors want to engage with established directors, while international investors would rather engage established studios than local studios, they don’t want to work with independent filmmakers, if you’re lucky you’ll find friends who are willing to put money together but aside from that, I don’t think the government has impacted the life of indie filmmakers like myself and others.

“One of the ways I think the government can be of help is by building infrastructure for local filmmakers to benefit from and to partner with filmmakers to tell local stories, our culture is diverse and beautiful and the impact of Good films shot in Nigeria exploring the diversity of our culture, our people could attract tourists/foreigners/investors to Nigeria.

“But lacking funds necessary for execution, many filmmakers substitute relevant filmmaking for a chance to earn a living. I believe with having great support and backing from the government most filmmakers/storytellers will tell relevant stories that’ll make an impact.”

After being shortlisted in the WHO film festival for his movie “Health for All 2023”, Eronlan said he plans to make more health-related films and work alongside Studios focused on health education and girl-child development to tell stories that’ll shape lives, culture and the future.

He added that, “I also plan to direct more drama series for behavioural change, films that’ll explore our culture, Gospel series and so on. I believe a film should be a mix of reality and entertainment.

“My company Eronlanx Studios is focused on pushing the boundaries of storytelling in filmmaking within Africa and beyond. We aim to be a one-stop studio where your ideas come to life. We take your project from the ideation stage, pre-production, production, post-production, and finally marketing. Our goal is to thrill our audience while making an impact with our work.

“We have a team of creators across the globe working together to bring African cinema to the world.”