Video film era

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The video film era, also known as the home video era, is a period in Nigerian cinema, typically from the late 1980s / early 1990s to mid 2010s, when Nigerian films were made using affordable video format.[1] The video boom era emerged after the downturn of the Golden era of the Nigerian cinema in the late 1980s.[1] The term "home video" stems from the concept of staying at home to watch the films, in contrast to films of the Golden Age that were watched at the movie theatres.[2]

The beginnings of the video film market in Nigeria is traced back to the 1980s when television productions thrived. Many of the television productions often found their ways into VHS, leading to the development of a small scale informal video trade.[3] This method was adopted and built on by producers and distributors at Alaba market to reinvent the film industry which was at the time facing a major decline.[3] The first film produced on video in Nigeria is 1988's Soso Meji, produced by Ade Ajiboye. Subsequently, Alade Aromire produced Ekun (1989) on video.[4] However, the boom experienced in this era is generally believed to have been kick started by Kenneth Nnebue's Living in Bondage (1992), although some historians claim otherwise.[4][5]

This era marked an all-time peak in the number of Nigerian film productions. As at 2004, at least four to five films were produced every day in Nigeria, and the movies already dominated television screens across the African continent and by extension, the Caribbeans and the diaspora,[4][6] with the movies significantly influencing cultures in many African nations,[7] and the film actors becoming household names across the continent.[4] The boom also led to backlash against Nigerian films in several countries, who supposedly wanted to prevent "recolonization" by Nigeria (or "Nigerialization of Africa"). There have been reported cases of raids on shops selling Nigerian films,[7][8] and governments who have introduced protectionist measures, such as introducing taxes for production houses and/or actors who want to shoot films in their countries,[6][9] as well as the outright banning of Nigerian films.[6]

In this era, Nigeria's film industry grew to become a big employer of labour in Nigeria, providing over a million jobs and contributing about 5% of the GDP.[5] At the peak of the era at around 2008, the industry had become the second largest producer of films,[10] releasing approximately 200 video films monthly.[11][6]Copyright infringement was also at its peak, with production houses running at a loss and closing down their outfits.[4][5][11][12][13] This development led to the need to revamp the film industry, with the birth of New Nigerian cinema.[14]

  1. ^ a b Winkler, Mathis (11 February 2004). "Watch Out Hollywood, Here Comes Nollywood". DW. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  2. ^ Kolar. "Nigeria: Africa's largest movie industry". Mubi.com. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b "History of Nollywood". Nificon. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Aderinokun, Tayo (Spring 2004). Emeagwali, Gloria (ed.). "The Economics of Nigerian Film, Art and Business". Central Connecticut State University. Africa Update Vol. XI, Issue 2. Archived from the original on 17 October 2004. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference autogenerated15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d "Nollywood: Lights, camera, Africa". The Economist. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  7. ^ a b Onikeku, Qudus (January 2007). "Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture". The Journal of Human Communications: A Journal of …. Academia. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. ^ Onuzulike, Uchenna (2007). "Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture". Nollywood Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  9. ^ ""Nollywood": What's in a Name?". Nigeria Village Square. 3 July 2005. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  10. ^ Vourlias, Christopher (14 December 2014). "Hooray for Nollywood: Nigerian film industry raises the artistic bar". Aljazeera. Aljazeera America. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference autogenerated11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Thorburn, Jane. "NOLLYWOOD 2 Doing It Right". Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  13. ^ Rice, Andrew (26 February 2012). "A Scorsese in Lagos: The Making of Nigeria's Film Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  14. ^ "New Nollywood Cinema: from home-video productions back to the screen". Retrieved 9 April 2015.