Inside Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry



Reuters photographer Akintunde Akinleye talks about his struggle to bring the story of Nigeria’s film industry to life.

I wasn’t sure if my pictures of Nigeria’s film industry, or “Nollywood” as it is fondly called, would ever make it to publication.

As I spent time stringing the project together, I met barrier after barrier. Lots of my appointments with producers and other contacts fell through. In cases where it seemed like I would be given the green light to take pictures, the location of shootings would change without notice. Getting access to the new luxurious cinemas in the metropolis of Lagos was hellish. But slowly, I managed to make headway.

Long before I started working on this assignment, I had thought about exploring the story of Nollywood. I first hit on the idea at the beginning of 2008 when a friend, who is a model and actress, suggested taking a trip to India to shoot a collaborative movie between Nigerian and Bollywood actors on location. Unfortunately, the trip never happened.

Recently, however, I had the chance to rejuvenate my idea through Reuters’ Wider Image desk, which commissions in-depth photo stories. I wanted to explore the reasons why Nigeria’s Nollywood has been so successful in a continent where conflict and poverty are rife.

Millions across Africa watch Nigerian films. They are as popular abroad as they are at home. I remember taking a shuttle bus while on holiday in Gabon a couple years ago and as I settled down in my seat, the screen started playing a movie. It was an export from Nigeria.

Nollywood has generated a great deal of money, not just for those directly involved in the movies, but also in other areas like advertising and corporate sponsorship. Thousands of movies are produced on shoestring budgets for different media formats, and they have fed emerging digital television channels for decades.

At an academic forum at the University of Lagos, a friend told me recently that Nigerian film has also played an important role in downplaying the political tensions in Nigeria. She argued that Nollywood movies soothed the nation, and had even helped prevent civil war.

I cannot really agree — I think the movies are mostly just entertainment. But after seeing the works of Nigerian film producers like Kunle Afolayan and his older counterpart Tunde Kelani, whose ingenious filmmaking incorporates political and satirical themes, you can see the importance of Nollywood in political communication.

Nigerian entertainment has changed a great deal since the 1950s and 60s, when theatre groups would travel between communities and villages in lorries and set up their stages. Now the film industry is so powerful that Unesco reported in 2009 that it had overtaken America’s Hollywood in the number of films it produced, and its output was only surpassed by India’s Bollywood.

Last August I spent four days in the rainforest in Nigeria’s south-west, watching in amazement as cameras, lights, shadows, smoke, and a group of talented people, from electricians to costumiers, worked together to create one example of the media that is so influential across Africa and its diaspora.

The film, titled “October 1,” was set during a key moment of Nigerian history, just before independence, and shot by Kunle Afolayan.

Shortly before that, in July, I went to Abeokuta, also in Nigeria’s south-west, and spent another four days on-location to see the filming of “Ake”. The movie was an adaptation of a childhood memoir by Nigerian Nobel laureate for literature, Wole Soyinka, and produced by Dapo Adeniyi.

Many people have dismissed Nollywood as cheap and sensationalist. Others have argued that Nollywood has provided a much-needed platform for Africans to tell African stories.

Whichever side of the argument you stand on, the story of Nollywood is one power and bright lights. I intend to follow it wherever it leads.

* Akintunde Akinleye / Reuters

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press

W.
Wael Kfoury
(Rotana)

Need to know

The flights: Flydubai flies from Dubai to Kilimanjaro airport via Dar es Salaam from Dh1,619 return including taxes. The trip takes 8 hours. 

The trek: Make sure that whatever tour company you select to climb Kilimanjaro, that it is a reputable one. The way to climb successfully would be with experienced guides and porters, from a company committed to quality, safety and an ethical approach to the mountain and its staff. Sonia Nazareth booked a VIP package through Safari Africa. The tour works out to $4,775 (Dh17,538) per person, based on a 4-person booking scheme, for 9 nights on the mountain (including one night before and after the trek at Arusha). The price includes all meals, a head guide, an assistant guide for every 2 trekkers, porters to carry the luggage, a cook and kitchen staff, a dining and mess tent, a sleeping tent set up for 2 persons, a chemical toilet and park entrance fees. The tiny ration of heated water provided for our bath in our makeshift private bathroom stall was the greatest luxury. A standard package, also based on a 4-person booking, works out to $3,050 (Dh11,202) per person.

When to go: You can climb Kili at any time of year, but the best months to ascend  are  January-February and September-October.  Also good are July and August, if you’re tolerant of the colder weather that winter brings.

Do not underestimate the importance of kit. Even if you’re travelling at a relatively pleasant time, be geared up for the cold and the rain.

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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

A new relationship with the old country

Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates

The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.

ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.

ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.

DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.

Signed

Geoffrey Arthur  Sheikh Zayed

HAJJAN
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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
 

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