Nollywood in Milan
Nollywood Stands Tall At Milan Film Festival
By The Guardian
ON March 14 the fifteenth edition of the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival began in Milan, Italy. A major highpoints was the strong impact made by Nigerian films at the weeklong event, which has grown to become one of the most important cultural events of the city. As proof of the growth the last festival attracted the attention of professionals and common people, willing to see those high quality movies that are normally not considered by the commercial distribution channels.
For a competition that went with the fiesta more than 100 projections were scheduled all the week through in five cinemas of the city. There were also many meetings arranged in schools and universities with the aim of promoting an intercultural education as well as make young people reflect about international problems from different perspectives. The competition was divided in four sections namely Full-Length Films, Documentaries, African Short Films and African Documentaries. These categories were respectively won by directors, Serik Aprimow (Kazakistan) with Okhotnik (Hunter), Idrissou Mora-Kpai (Benin/Niger Republic) with Arlit, Deuxi?me Paris (Arlit, Second Paris), Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) with Kare Kare Zvako (Mother's Day) and Kali Van Der Merwe (South Africa) with Brown. As members of the jury were called great international guests such as the Nobel prize winner Wole Soyinka and Bina Paul, director of the Kerala Film Festival of India.
Out of competition a whole section of the festival was dedicated to the Nollywood phenomenon from Nigeria. On Saturday March 19 some leading Nigerian directors and producers, journalists and experts of the subject took part in a discussion on the theme: Nollywod: Video-Boom in Nigeria. The Guardian newspaper, Lagos journalist Jahman Anikulapo made a short introduction on the history of the Nigerian film production up to 1985, when the Nigerian economy was strong and after its consequent crush till 1990, when some businessmen decided to produce video-dramas. Living in Bondage (1992) an Igbo language film, shot by Kenneth Nnebue can be considered the first drama in video. After years of military regime, this kind of video became a real means of expression almost in the same way as newspapers. The wave of growth has risen, so much that nowadays public money has begun to be invested in Nollywood. "It's becoming a national pride, and many film festivals are creating special sections, which permit those kind of films to be shown", explains the journalist.
In fact those videos became incredibly popular, not only in Nigeria, but also abroad, "in Italy the Nigerian communities look for them and buy them in the African Shopping Centers", says Sonia Aimiuwa, a Nigerian actress who has been living in Italy for 12 years.
"They're so popular, because they tell stories which are close to our people. Stories, which touch them", affirms the director Francis Onwochei, "and the quality of those videos has also improved as both producers and audience have become more sophisticated and the budget invested are getting bigger." But he also pointed out the difficulties of keeping piracy under control, especially when the videos are exported.
While Jonathan Haynes, professor at the Southampton College in New York, explained the peculiarities of the Nigerian production if compared with that of all the other African countries. Mrs. Roseline Odeh, director of the National Film and Video Censors Board who was also present talked about the very important role that those videos have on the cultural identity of the land. "A special law was created in order to preserve the cultural identity of Nigeria when British, American and Indian Films began to be shown in the viewing centers, and the same Office which cared for the safeguard of the national identity, had to consider also the Nollywood phenomenon." The result is that these days all videos are approved by the Censors Board before being distributed. They are not considered "allowed" if for example they show images or spread ideas of religious intolerance, of tribal intolerance or if they show excessive violence.
By The Guardian
ON March 14 the fifteenth edition of the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival began in Milan, Italy. A major highpoints was the strong impact made by Nigerian films at the weeklong event, which has grown to become one of the most important cultural events of the city. As proof of the growth the last festival attracted the attention of professionals and common people, willing to see those high quality movies that are normally not considered by the commercial distribution channels.
For a competition that went with the fiesta more than 100 projections were scheduled all the week through in five cinemas of the city. There were also many meetings arranged in schools and universities with the aim of promoting an intercultural education as well as make young people reflect about international problems from different perspectives. The competition was divided in four sections namely Full-Length Films, Documentaries, African Short Films and African Documentaries. These categories were respectively won by directors, Serik Aprimow (Kazakistan) with Okhotnik (Hunter), Idrissou Mora-Kpai (Benin/Niger Republic) with Arlit, Deuxi?me Paris (Arlit, Second Paris), Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) with Kare Kare Zvako (Mother's Day) and Kali Van Der Merwe (South Africa) with Brown. As members of the jury were called great international guests such as the Nobel prize winner Wole Soyinka and Bina Paul, director of the Kerala Film Festival of India.
Out of competition a whole section of the festival was dedicated to the Nollywood phenomenon from Nigeria. On Saturday March 19 some leading Nigerian directors and producers, journalists and experts of the subject took part in a discussion on the theme: Nollywod: Video-Boom in Nigeria. The Guardian newspaper, Lagos journalist Jahman Anikulapo made a short introduction on the history of the Nigerian film production up to 1985, when the Nigerian economy was strong and after its consequent crush till 1990, when some businessmen decided to produce video-dramas. Living in Bondage (1992) an Igbo language film, shot by Kenneth Nnebue can be considered the first drama in video. After years of military regime, this kind of video became a real means of expression almost in the same way as newspapers. The wave of growth has risen, so much that nowadays public money has begun to be invested in Nollywood. "It's becoming a national pride, and many film festivals are creating special sections, which permit those kind of films to be shown", explains the journalist.
In fact those videos became incredibly popular, not only in Nigeria, but also abroad, "in Italy the Nigerian communities look for them and buy them in the African Shopping Centers", says Sonia Aimiuwa, a Nigerian actress who has been living in Italy for 12 years.
"They're so popular, because they tell stories which are close to our people. Stories, which touch them", affirms the director Francis Onwochei, "and the quality of those videos has also improved as both producers and audience have become more sophisticated and the budget invested are getting bigger." But he also pointed out the difficulties of keeping piracy under control, especially when the videos are exported.
While Jonathan Haynes, professor at the Southampton College in New York, explained the peculiarities of the Nigerian production if compared with that of all the other African countries. Mrs. Roseline Odeh, director of the National Film and Video Censors Board who was also present talked about the very important role that those videos have on the cultural identity of the land. "A special law was created in order to preserve the cultural identity of Nigeria when British, American and Indian Films began to be shown in the viewing centers, and the same Office which cared for the safeguard of the national identity, had to consider also the Nollywood phenomenon." The result is that these days all videos are approved by the Censors Board before being distributed. They are not considered "allowed" if for example they show images or spread ideas of religious intolerance, of tribal intolerance or if they show excessive violence.
Comments