AFRICA-FILM: Look What They’re Watching in Lagos

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Dulue Mbachu

LAGOS, Apr 2 1996 (IPS) - The scene is eastern Nigeria during the time of colonial rule. A British missionary in the land of the Arochukwu people has been missing for weeks. Information filters through that he was captured by head-hunters from neighbouring Musanga where the King wants the skull of a white man to be used as a foot rest.

The Arochukwu set out on a punitive expedition to Musanga. What follows may be reminiscent of a Hollywood Tarzan movie only ‘The Battle of Musanga’ is every inch a Nigerian film.

In fact, it is the latest blockbuster to be churned out by a thriving video industry which produces at least two originals a week.

Some five years ago, the local cinema industry, choked by spiralling costs due to massive devaluations of the national currency, was showing signs of being on the verge of total collapse.

But as cinema halls closed and were converted to Pentecostal churches or warehouses, a new film genre emerged — home-videos. These explored local themes, used Nigerian stars and were made with local money. Quickly they became the rave.

“One major victory is sending to the rear those foreign films which hitherto took the centre-stage in the industry. Today we no longer witness stampedes at Indian or Chinese film shows,” says Tunde Alabi Hundeyin, whose production company, Dudu Productions, has released over 1,000 hours of video in English and Yoruba, a major indigenous language with over 20 million speakers.

Among the most popular films are those in indigenous languages. Apart from Yoruba, films in Igbo — another major language with as many speakers as the 20 million who use Yoruba — have also been commercially successful. With subtitles in English, they have nationwide appeal.

This revolution of sorts was made possible by the emergence in the last decade of a crop of university-trained theatre artistes and film enthusiasts eager to make a mark.

Among the notable successes is ‘Living in Bondage’ (Igbo). Released by NEK Video Links, run by Kenneth Nnebue, it is the story of a young man distraught at his failure to acquire wealth. He joins a religious cult in desperation and is told he must sacrifice his wife to become rich. When he obliges, he makes money – but loses his sanity.

Most of the storylines explore contemporary issues and end up as morality tales. Lust for money. The tragedy of losing it. Adultery. Witchcraft. Back-stabbing friends. Faithless women. These are the meat and drink of the full-length features now the rage in Nigeria.

They have a soap-opera feel. Action usually takes place against the backdrop of luxury mansions. These are loaned by wealthy benefactors in return for having their names mentioned in the credits.