Film History & Movements Codexery

Cinema of Nigeria

From colonial peepholes to a global powerhouse: the story of Nollywood.

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The cinema of Nigeria, widely known as Nollywood, encompasses films produced in the country and traces its origins to the late 19th century.[1] Its development is commonly divided into four eras: the Colonial era, Golden Age, video film era, and the emerging New Nigerian Cinema.[1] Based on its revenue, the Nigerian film industry was the third most valuable globally in 2013.[2]

Making and release

Motion picture devices first arrived in Nigeria in the late 19th century as peephole viewers, and the first film screening at Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos occurred from 12 to 22 August 1903.[3] After independence in 1960, cinema business expanded rapidly, and the 1972 Indigenization Decree transferred ownership of about 300 film theatres from foreigners to Nigerians.[4][5] The oil boom from 1973 to 1978 boosted cinema culture by increasing disposable income for citizens.[4] The video film era began in the 1990s, marked by the direct-to-video release of Living in Bondage (1992), and the industry peaked in the mid-2000s as the second largest film producer by annual output.[6]

The New Nigerian Cinema phase started in the mid-2000s, shifting production back to cinema formats, with The Figurine (2009) widely regarded as a major turning point.[2][7] By 2014, the industry was worth ₦853.9 billion (US$5.1 billion), contributing about 1.4% to Nigeria's economy.[8] Geoffrey Barkas directed Palaver (1926), which was Nigeria's first feature film and the first to give speaking parts to Nigerian actors.[9][10]

What the cited sources add

According to the report, retail stores saw films with Ghanaian actresses receiving more patronage than those with Nigerian acts.[11] The article also stated that Ghana's Jackie Appiah won Best Actress at the first Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards in 2013.[11] The same article observed that Indian films attracted higher patronage at these cinemas than most Nigerian films.[12] The same investigation found that on Nollytuned.com, Ghanaian actresses were the leads in at least 93 of the 184 films listed between April and August 2013.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Emeagwali, Gloria, "Editorial: Nigerian Film Industry", Central Connecticut State University, Spring 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Emeagwali, Gloria, "Editorial: Nigerian Film Industry", Central Connecticut State University, Spring 2004; "Nigerian films try to move upmarket: Nollywood's new scoreboard", The Economist, 17 July 2014; Brown, Funke Osae, "Nollywood improves quality, leaps to N1.72trn revenue in 2013", Business Day Newspaper, 24 December 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "X-raying Nigerian Entertainment Industry At 49", Modern Ghana, 30 September 2009; Emeagwali, Gloria, "Editorial: Nigerian Film Industry", Central Connecticut State University, Spring 2004; Olubomehin, "CINEMA BUSINESS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA SINCE 1903", Historical Research Letter, 2012; Ekenyerengozi, Michael Chima, "Recognizing Nigeria's Earliest Movie Stars - Dawiya, King of the Sura and Yilkuba, the Witch Doctor", IndieWire, 21 May 2014; "PALAVER: A ROMANCE OF NORTHERN NIGERIA", Colonial Film (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Olubomehin, "CINEMA BUSINESS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA SINCE 1903", Historical Research Letter, 2012; "History of Nollywood", Nificon; Adegbola, Tunde, "Coming of Age in Nigerian Moviemaking", African Film Festival Inc. New York, 2011; Obiaya, Ikechukwu, "The Blossoming of the Nigerian Video Film Industry", Academia; "History of Nollywood", Nificon (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Obiaya, Ikechukwu, "The Blossoming of the Nigerian Video Film Industry", Academia (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second largest film producer – UN", United Nations, 5 May 2009; "Nollywood: Lights, camera, Africa", The Economist, 16 December 2010; Onikeku, Qudus, "Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture", The Journal of Human Communications: A Journal of …, January 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "History of Nollywood", Nificon; Adelakun, Abimbola, "Gradually, the cinemas return in Nigeria", Modern Ghana, 19 February 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Liston, Enjoli, "Hello Nollywood: how Nigeria became Africa's biggest economy overnight", The Guardian Newspaper, 10 April 2014; Hazlewood, Phil, "Nollywood helps Nigeria kick South Africa's economic butt", Sowetan Live, 7 April 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nigerian Film Unit", Colonial Film (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Nigeria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ekenyerengozi, Michael Chima, "Recognizing Nigeria's Earliest Movie Stars - Dawiya, King of the Sura and Yilkuba, the Witch Doctor", IndieWire, 21 May 2014; "PALAVER: A ROMANCE OF NORTHERN NIGERIA", Colonial Film (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Enengedi, Victor, "NET SPECIAL FEATURE: Ghanaian actresses take over Nollywood", The NET, 23 September 2013. facts only, no text reused. thenet.ng
  12. Adelakun, Abimbola, "Gradually, the cinemas return in Nigeria", Modern Ghana, 19 February 2009. facts only, no text reused. modernghana.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cinema of Nigeria (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Cinema of IndiaJackie Appiah

More in Film History & Movements

Cinema of AfricaCinema of AustraliaCinema of CanadaCinema of EgyptCinema of GermanyCinema of GreeceCinema of Hong KongCinema of IndonesiaCinema of IranCinema of ItalyCinema of KoreaCinema of Mexico

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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