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Nollywood is at
the threshold of a paradigm shift which may have started in 2010. Just
as 1992 is credited with the birth of Nollywood with ‘Living In
Bondage’, a modest cache of offerings on the big screen (The Figurine,
Inale, Ije, and Anchor Baby) may have started the rebirth of Nollywood.
But as to the nature of this change, it is still morning yet on
creation day.

Time will tell
whether the change is an ecdysis of the snake merely shedding its skin
or a mutation that goes down to the genes. If it is the former, there
may be nothing to cheer except the fact of the different platform –
cinema – that the movies are coming out on. But if it is the latter,
there will be lots to cheer, because it means we will be seeing changes
in the very characteristics that define (and malign) Nollywood. What
are these characteristics?

Low budgets

Budget and
gestation period are top on the list of Nollywood’s defining
parameters. Nollywood movies are low budget movies. With two million
naira, a producer can cobble together a flick. Also, the gestation
period from pre-production to marketing can be of the order of few
weeks. Somehow, the questions of budget and gestation period are
inter-connected, like an engine head and its trailer.

Low budget means
that the script cannot be properly researched or a good scriptwriter
hired. Many a time, some hare-brained storyteller is engaged and gifted
character actors are invited to listen to the story and ad-lib their
parts. Casting, set making, props and the shooting proper, all suffer
from this paucity of funding.

In contrast,
‘Inale’, one of the new films whose release signposts the new era,
reportedly cost $2.8 million (N300m) to produce. By Hollywood
standards, this figure is chicken change but in Nollywood, it is a
king’s ransom. The difference is visible in the quality of the film, to
confirm our Nigerian saying that “better soup, na money kill am.”

As for duration,
‘Ije’ took 18 months for shooting alone, with locations in Jos and the
US. This contrasts with the fortnight average duration of a shoot for
Nollywood movies.

Craft

Another parameter
to be used in evaluating how much of Nollywood is to be found in the
new cinema is in the craft. I use craft here as an omnibus word that
encompasses directing, acting, the storyline, and its treatment. As far
as acting goes, Nollywood’s best can hold the candle to the best in the
world. What is lacking is the directorial capacity to lift their game.

In many star roles
of the quartet under review, it is the self-same Nollywood actors that
put up stellar performances. Whether one is talking about ‘The
Figurine’ (Ramsey Noah, Kunle Afolayan, Omoni Oboli, etc) or ‘Ije’
(Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde), the story is the same. One
can, therefore, posit that the problem with Nollywood is not in the
actors but the acting (excuse the pun). This is true, especially of the
A-list actors.

Storylines

As for the
storylines, those of our normative quartet are no different from the
regular Nollywood fare. Nollywood has countless stories of mysterious
jinxes to rival ‘The Figurine’. It has done too many epics to make
‘Inale’ special just on that score. What is missing from the Nollywood
equivalents is treatment that is suspenseful and filmic. Kunle
Afolayan’s ‘The Figurine’ allows you to conjecture what is happening
with the serial prosperity followed by serial tragedies as happened in
the film.

Up until the end,
the attribution of the mystery to the figurine remains debatable. The
scientific minded would say they are mere coincidences. If the film is
watched in the downtown cinema of our growing up days which had more
rowdy audiences, you could picture the hot arguments that will erupt
between teenage friends on their way out as the lights come on. That is
the purpose of art: engendering debate.

Also the false
ending or twist in the tale of ‘Anchor Baby’ is totally unpredictable
from the beginning, unlike in Nollywood where any eight-year-old
aficionado will tell you what is to happen by merely seeing Patience
Ozokwor, Kanayo Kanayo, or Jim Iyke’s character.

Being too
loquacious, as if one were using an audio medium, has been the bane of
Nollywood. In the quartet under review, one could see glimpses of how
it should be done without the need to preach too much.

Directing

In directing, our
quartet is many notches above Nollywood standard. This is
notwithstanding the limited experience of Lonzo Nzekwe (‘Anchor Baby’).
Only in ‘Inale’ could one see a bit of the corruptive influence of
Nollywood in the perfunctorily executed wrestling scenes.

Also, the
dialogues and romantic scene featuring Odeh (Hakeem Kae Kazim) and
Inale (Caroline Chikezie) before the wrestling seem to kill the
suspense and make the outcome of the contest predictable – more like
working towards the answer. The director, Jeta Amata, cannot be excused
his playful treatment of the wrestling scenes on account of the film
being a musical. His approach seems to be that of merely dramatising
the story being told by Cameron Prozman’s character to his
granddaughter. This is faulty.

In ‘Titanic’,
which uses the same technique of flashback, the film takes a life of
its own and sucks the audience so much into the “now” as to forget it
is only a flashback. Notwithstanding this minor flaw, ‘Inale’ still
blazes a quality trail in its genre with the fragrance of Bongos
Ikwue’s songwriting prowess redolent throughout it.

Across borders

With the exception
of ‘The Figurine’, the other members of the quartet all benefited from
cross border collaborations in set design, location, cast, crew and
post-production. If they are that good, it stands to reason that
collaboration is the way to go. There has to be a trans-Atlantic
handshake for Nollywood to up its game. Nollywood collabos have been
too fixated on merely showing that an Oyinbo face or London street was
captured. The budgets obviously could not carry quality actors in the
collaborating countries.

As for the
Ghanaian actors in Nollywood, they cannot uplift any standards because
they don’t have any higher or better film culture to draw from. Those
of them that have broken into Nollywood’s A-list have no choice but to
conform to Nollywood. Inale’s casting of Hakeem Kae Kazim and Caroline
Chikezie in lead roles was a well-executed move that surely rubbed off
on the musical’s overall rating. Though Nigerians by birth, both had
made their marks in advanced film cultures and were known faces
internationally. ‘Anchor Baby’ also had Terri Oliver. Nollywood’s
casting directors must in future cast their nets wide enough to
incorporate off-shore, top-rated actors to enhance the universal
acceptance of their stories and movies.

In this, maybe
they could borrow a leaf from national football where being
foreign-based has its benefits; but film has no laws against the
nationality of the players you can use.

Offshore, onshore

However, off-shore
collaboration in acting roles should not be confused with feeding our
inferiority complex. It is not necessarily because our A-list actors
are not good enough. Neither is it about having a white face or
American accent. Film is a worldwide medium and these off-shore actors
bring cross-cultural credibility to the story.

But apart from
shopping off-shore, there is a slew of talents waiting to be challenged
in the nascent Nigerian theatre and Nigerian non-Nollywood
constituencies, including Kannywood, the Northern movie market.
Nollywood and the Nigerian stage have had only limited symbiosis.
Nothing prevents the new cinema from going a-fishing in the stage pond.
Dede Mabiaku gave a good account of himself in ‘Inale’.

Before the ink on
this piece could dry, two other big screen flicks with Nigerian, nay
Nollywood, inputs hit the cinemas. ‘Between Kings And Queens’ was made
by ex-Nollywood practitioner, Joy Dickson, and stars Jim Iyke while
‘Champion of our Time’ comes with a full cast of Nollywood stars
including Joke Silva, Segun Arinze, Ejike Asiegbu, etc. Given our zest
for following trends, one should expect a hurricane in Nigerian cinema
films in 2011. It remains to be seen whether Nollywood is merely
re-inventing itself or a totally different movement is being born.

Tighten your seat belts everybody!

Mike Ekunno is a staff of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).