Golden Age of Nigerian Cinema

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Golden Age or Golden era are terms used in Nigerian film history to designate the motion picture industry of Nigeria from the late 1950s to the late 1980s.[1] It captures the mode of visual and sound production, as well as the method of distribution employed during this period. This period began with the formal recognition of the Nigerian Film Unit as a sector in 1954,[2] with the first film entirely copyrighted to this unit being Fincho (1957) by Sam Zebba.

After Nigeria's independence in 1960, the cinema business rapidly expanded, with new cinema houses being established.[3] As a result, Nigerian content in theatres increased from the late 1960s into the 1970s, especially productions from Western Nigeria, owing to former theatre practitioners such as Hubert Ogunde and Moses Olaiya transitioning into the big screen.[4][5] In 1972, the Indigenization Decree was issued by Yakubu Gowon, which demanded the transfer of ownership of about a total of 300 film theatres from their foreign owners to Nigerians, which resulted in more Nigerians playing active roles in the cinema and film.[6]

The oil boom of 1973 through 1978 also contributed immensely to the spontaneous boost of the cinema culture in Nigeria, as the improved economic situation allowed many citizens to have disposable income to spend on cinema and home television sets.[4] After several moderately successful films, Papa Ajasco (1984) by Wale Adenuga became one of the first Nigerian Blockbusters, reportedly grossing about ₦61,000 (approx. 2015 ₦21.5 million) in three days. A year later, Mosebolatan (1985) by Moses Olaiya also grossed ₦107,000 (approx. 2015 ₦44.2 million) in five days.[3] The 1980s was also a period of major boom in the television industry, with several books from notable authors being adapted into television series.[7] Many of these television productions were later released on video. As a result, a small scale informal video trade developed, which led to the emergence of the Video boom in the 1990s.[8]

The Golden Age began to face a major decline in the late 1980s. This decline has been attributed to several factors, including the reduction in the value of Naira, lack of finance and marketing support, lack of standard film studios and production equipment, frequent Government structural adjustment programmes due to military dictatorships,[4] as well as inexperience on the part of practitioners.[9][3][10] It is also generally believed by stakeholders that the decline in this era was due to negligence as a result of the oil boom, which affected other sectors of the Nigerian economy as well.[9][6] It has also been noted to be a result of an increase in the ownership of television sets across the country: the films produced during this era usually screened over a single weekend and were released on video the following week. It no longer made sense to visit the theatres, and most families preferred to wait a few days to get their hands on the VHS copies.[10][11] In the early 1990s, only a few of the once vibrant cinema houses were still in operation, and all had collapsed before 1999.[3] However, as of 2009, an emerging movement in the film industry is rapidly reviving the cinema culture of Nigerians once again.[12][13][14]

  1. ^ Irene Calboli; Srividhya Ragavan (2015). Diversity in Intellectual Property: Identities, Interests, and Intersections. Cambridge University Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-1-107-0655-29.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d Olubomehin, Oladipo O. (2012). "Cinema Business in Lagos, Nigeria Since 1903". Historical Research Letter. 3. ISSN 2225-0964.
  4. ^ a b c "History of Nollywood". Nificon. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. ^ Adegbola, Tunde (2011). "Coming of Age in Nigerian Moviemaking". African Film Festival Inc. New York. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference autogenerated4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The Nation Archive - D. O. Fagunwa: The bard resonates from the tomb". The Nation Newspapers. The Nation. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference autogenerated2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Adelakun, Abimbola (19 February 2009). "Gradually, the cinemas return in Nigeria". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  11. ^ Vourlias, Christopher (14 December 2014). "Hooray for Nollywood: Nigerian film industry raises the artistic bar". Aljazeera. Aljazeera America. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  12. ^ Olayiwola Abiodun. From Celluloid to Video: The Tragedy of the Nigerian Film Industry (Thesis). Archived from the original on October 5, 2015.
  13. ^ "A tour through the golden era of Nigerian movies". Aljazeera. May 2016.
  14. ^ "New Nollywood Cinema: from home-video productions back to the screen". Retrieved 9 April 2015.