Nigerian film producers are leveraging the current talent exodus from Nigeria, popularly known as ‘Japa’ (a Yoruba word for “run quickly”), to deepen the reach of their movies outside the country.
Many Nigerians have relocated to the United Kingdom, Canada and United States, among others, in recent years in search of greener pastures.
As the number of Nigerians living abroad grows, so does the demand for films depicting their homeland. Many
Nigerians seek ways to reconnect with their roots by watching Nollywood films.
Some Nollywood movies have premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Olanrewaju Aileru, head marketing of filmore entertainment, said the growing number of people leaving Nigeria has prompted producers to create more content telling African stories because there is a greater demand for it.
“People living abroad can only connect to Africa through our music, movies, and foods. As a result, there is a greater desire to consume locally produced movie content abroad,” he said.
“We’re beginning to share our African stories and watch our films. Africans were accustomed to watching Hollywood or Bollywood films, but now they can enjoy Africa-created content that features their own cultures and creativity.”
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and the diaspora, said recently that no fewer than 17 million Nigerians were living in various countries of the world as of 2017.
A fascinating aspect of film history is how western literature, history, culture, and even western society, in general, have informed the kinds of African stories retold on the global screen.
In recent times, African stories which had never been able to penetrate foreign markets are now beginning to get global attention, and those stories are now being exported to a global audience.
One of such stories is ‘The Woman King’, an epic story about the unrelenting strength of the female warriors of Dahomey, a country in West Africa. The film is based on the lives of powerful African queens and warriors.
Just 11 days after its release, ‘Anikulapo’, a 2022 Nigerian film produced by Kunle Afolayan, topped the Netflix weekly global chart as the most viewed non-English Netflix original film. The film depicts Africans and was set in the pre-colonial era of the 17th-century-old Oyo Empire.
Also ‘Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman’, Netflix’s adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s stage play, became the first Yoruba language film ever to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, has become a global powerhouse with an enormous following in Africa and among the African diaspora. It is the second-largest film sector globally with a projected worth of $6.4 billion in 2021.
A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Nollywood produced 635 movies in the second quarter of 2021, up from 416 in Q1 2021.
According to PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook for 2020-2024, Nigeria’s media and entertainment industry is one of the fastest-growing creative industries in the world.
It has the potential to become the country’s greatest export, with a projected annual growth rate of 8.6 percent and a compound annual growth rate of 19.3 percent from 2018-2023, it said.
“Nollywood’s popularity throughout Africa and the African diaspora demonstrates the films’ ability to travel,” said Ozi Menakaya, talent and film agent at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles California. “It has allowed our content to reach more countries around the world.”
He said greater collaboration with other film industries will aid Nollywood’s growth.
Read also: Here are 3 Nigerian movies competing for Oscars 2023
Streaming platforms such as Netflix are giving a boost to African films. Over the past few years, Netflix has invested in the creative community, bringing African stories to audiences around the world.
Recently, Prime Video launched its first local original movie, ‘Gangs of Lagos’, directed by Jade Osiberu, and produced by Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju. The streaming platform intends to collaborate with the best local talent, discover and share unique Nigerian stories from various genres, and ensure that products created for customers are of high quality and hyper-local, promoting diversity by delivering Nollywood content to people all over the world.
According to Obinna Okerekeocha, creative director at REDTV, Nigeria and, by extension, Africa are doing an excellent job of telling their own stories.
He said a story about the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey, titled ‘Woman King’, has sparked interest around the world. “This was a project that Sony was not particularly enthusiastic about but felt it could experiment with, and it paid off.”
“This is a testament to the fact that our stories can indeed travel. With the likes of Netflix and Amazon pitching their tents in Nollywood, they have provided platforms for our stories to indeed ‘japa’,” Okerekeocha said.
He said the improvements in certain areas as regards movie production in Nigeria is not yet industry-wide, adding that just a few entities have really upped their game while so many lag behind, especially technically.
“A lot of work still needs to be done to bring Nollywood to the point where it needs to be critically done. A lot of training around writing, post-production, and film business education is needed to improve our filmmakers and get them to that world standard that we really crave,” he said.
Okerekeocha said with the spread of African stories around the world, the divide that once existed is no longer present.
He said previously, Africans in the diaspora relied on friends and family to send them VCDs and DVDs of Nollywood films. “Now, those films are available globally on YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon. Accessibility is now available.”
“We are beginning to see foreign investments in this space. Collaborations are what will take things up a notch. There’s not enough of that happening at the moment but given the rapid development of film and TV across borders and continents, it’s only a question of time,” he added.
