/ARTS WEEKLY/THEATRE-NIGERIA: Cleansing the Film Industry

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Apr 29 2003 (IPS) - Every weekend, youth of different ages and sexes converge on Nigeria’s magnificent, but dying, National Theatre located in this former capital to watch new video films shown by producers before being released for sale to the public.

"Aiye is showing in cinema hall two. Buy your ticket here!" ”Buy your ticket here for Koto Orun your latest film!”; ”This is the last time we are showing Night of Evils at the theatre, come and watch for only 100 naira!” advertisers shout at the top of their voices on public address systems mounted on their cars plastered with the posters of the films parked in front of the box offices.

Most producers air their video films first at the theatre for several days before they are released to the public in order to check piracy of their works by video shops and clubs.

Piracy is a serious problem affecting the film industry in Nigeria so negatively that the various associations in the industry have formed monitoring groups to check illegal use of their products by video clubs or being pirated by video shops.

However, the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) says a major problem is the flooding of the market of uncensored and unclassified films. These, the NFVCB says, are also shown by television stations, video clubs and cinema houses without consideration for age classification. Many of the films shown are full of obscenity, rituals and violence and are not suitable for younger viewers.

Worried by this trend, the NFVCB, which in 2000 began a campaign to sanitise the home video industry, warned recently of stringent measures to check producers who do not comply with the censorship rules.

"The need to sanitise the industry has become necessary because some producers over indulged themselves not only in making obscene, ritualistic and blasphemous films, but have also illegally assessed and classified the films themselves and fraudulently put the board’s logo and classification on them,” says Roseline Odeh, NFVCB’s chief executive.

She says the board was alerted to the situation after receiving complaints from Nigerians and nationals of other African countries about Nigerian movies polluting their society. "The impression being given, especially to the outside world, was that Nigeria is a nation of only rituals, violence, sex and nothing positive."

Odeh said the avalanche of protests from members of the public over the dominance of such films could not be ignored or trivialised. "The effect on the psyche of our children by those films cannot be under estimated either," she said.

Such films, she says, are a disgrace to the nation, an affront to the dignity of Nigerian women and a total derailment of the nation’s cultural values. "It is an indictment of all of us as parents, as teachers, as Nigerians and as religious leaders."

As part of efforts to clean up the video film industry in the country, the board last year held series of meetings with some professional guilds such as the Association of Movie Producers of Nigeria, the Video Club Owners Association of Nigeria, the Conference of Motion Picture Practitioners of Nigeria and the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners and other stakeholders to re-orientate the Nigerian filmmakers to produce decent films.

Odeh says such efforts have begun to yield positive results but expressed disappointment that some producers continue to violate the regulations by self-classification and the illegal release of their films onto the market.

"With the exception of a few recalcitrant ones whom we are still having a running battle with, other producers have been co-operating and falling in line. This is evidently reflected in the technical quality and content of films now being packaged by them. The spate in negative themes such as blood letting, ritual, voodism, cultism, have been reduced drastically," she said.

The board has warned that more stringent measures would be taken against those who have refused to comply with the board’s classification regulations. Among such measures is reporting erring television stations to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for sanctions. The NBC is the only body empowered to licence or unlicence television or radio stations in Nigeria.

”Every producer who violates the law will continue to be arrested followed by prosecution. Once all airwaves are cleared of 18 rated films, new classification categories will be introduced into the system. We hope that the new categories will make Home Movies on Television more balanced and reflect our societal and cultural values better instead of the current suffocation of the public with recycled films on ritual, sex, violence and gore”.

The Censors Board last year classified 880 films out of which 775 were classified "18" NTBB (not for broadcast) and 135 were classified as "G" or safe for broadcast. Forty-four films illegally released into the market were detected during the period under review.

The board has also recently introduced new categories of classification in the censorship of films in its campaign to cleanse the industry of unsuitable materials. The new classifications are ”C” particularly for children; ”G” – SFB (Safe for Broadcast) for General Exhibition; ”PG” for Parental Guidance; ”18” – NTBB – Mature Audience (Not to be broadcast); ”X” – Ritual – Mature Audience (Not to be broadcast); ”X” – Violence – Mature Audience (Not to be broadcast); ”XX” – Not to be broadcast and ”RE” – Restricted Exhibition (Not to be broadcast).

Ode warned producers that the new categories of classification are not licenses for excessive obscenity, violence or ritual as this would not be tolerated.

”Since ritual is an African practice, it should be treated with respect and dignity like any other religion. The present situation where the average Native Doctor is portrayed as a jester dressed in rags and raffia and full of theatrics has to end,” she said.

As part of efforts to sanitise and regulate the film industry, the board has also released a ”Film and Video Directory in Nigeria” to properly guide the public on the kind of films available. The directory contains information on classified films and video works and video clubs registered by the board from December 1994 when the board was set up, to August 2002. It will be reviewed regularly.

Ode says the publication is one of the prerequisites to gain recognition at international markets. It will be circulated to all the Nigerian embassies abroad. The data will also be on the board’s website for easy access throughout the world.

Expressing the hope that with the ongoing sanitisation Nigerian films would be accepted internationally, Ode said: ”The last film festival in Burkina Fasso (FESPAO) should be a wake up call to Nigerian film makers. Nigeria is the largest home video producer in the world yet at an African film festival, only a handful of Nigeria films were on display. We won nothing, while some countries which produced one or two films a year, went away with laurels.”

"The message should be clear to all of us and this should be the time for critical self appraisal, that quality and not quantity is the name of the game. Our crusade to rid the Nigerian society of bad films will continue until it is completely wiped out," she said.