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Subtitling and the
place of women in Nigerian movies were the main issues discussed at the
fourth plenary session of ‘Reading and Producing Nollywood’, the
international symposium on Nigeria’s movie industry concluded at the
University of Lagos on Friday, March 25.

The trio of
Onookome Okome, professor of English and Film Studies, University of
Alberta; Bic Leu, a Fulbright Fellow currently researching Nollywood in
Nigeria; and Duro Oni, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos
convened the three-day meeting attended by players from all sectors of
Nollywood. There were three scholarly presentations during the session
where the topic, ‘Reading Culture, Women and Religion in Nollywood’ was
examined. Former Director General, National Theatre, Ahmed Yerima,
chaired the meeting while Executive Secretary, National Institute for
Cultural Orientation (NICO), Barclays Ayakoroma, presented the first
paper. It was titled ‘Giving Women Pride of Place in Nigerian Video
Films: A Critical Reading of Andy Amenechi’s ‘Egg of Life’.

Beyond decorative objects

Ayakoroma noted
that film scholars have always felt that women do not play significant
roles in Nigerian video films, especially the epics, which he
classified into three. “They are reflected more as decorative objects
in the palace…They are never part of the decision-making process in
the community; and they are never meant to argue, even if such
decisions are not in their interest,” he said.

The theatre scholar
however noted that Amenechi broke the mould in ‘Egg of Life’, which he
described as a female version of ‘Igodo’, a male epic the director had
earlier co-directed with Don Pedro-Obaseki. “It is more of a feminine
version of ‘Igodo’, probably in the bid to display gender sensitivity.
It is apparently in pursuance of the need to portray women as heroines,
capable of saving the community in times of need,” he further explained.

‘Egg of Life’ is
about seven maidens who undertake a dangerous quest to save the king’s
son and the soul of the community. They succeed eventually but it is at
great personal costs. Ayakoroma explained that the film gave women
pride of place because, “instead of the women sitting with their hands
between their legs, waiting for their husbands or sons to return from a
journey of redemption, they undertake the epic quest.” He added that
“the film posits that the feminine gender could assume leadership
positions and move the country forward.” The untranslatable Emmanuel
Adedun’s paper, ‘From Yoruba to English: The Untranslatable in Selected
Nollywood Movies’ generated a lot of reaction from the audience,
probably because of the scholar’s position. The lecturer in the
Department of English, University of Lagos, contended that English
subtitling of Yoruba films contain linguistic and cultural inadequacies
which causes a gap in communication with the audience. Adedun was also
of the belief that the low standard of subtitling in Nigerian movies is
due to lack of professionalism. Using slides from three Yoruba movies,
‘Ipile Wa’, ‘Apaadi’ and ‘Aba’ as examples, Adedun noted that there are
some chants, proverbs and incantations that filmmakers find
untranslatable in English.

He submitted that
as a result, there are communication gaps, misleading semantic
inaccuracies and embarrassing grammatical infelicities in a significant
number of Yoruba films. Adedun, however, did not fail to offer some
suggestions. He noted that cultural matters can and should be
communicated and that Nigerian filmmakers should pay attention to
subtitling. Adedun also recommended hiring of competent professionals
to subtitle; and the establishment of centres and institutes of
translation studies.

Igwe!

Olaoluwa Senayo’s
‘Igwe!!! Monarchy, Paradox and Cultural Passage in Nollywood: Some
Preliminary Notes’ centred on the portrayal of the republican Igbo
society as a monarchy in Nollywood movies. He argued that productions
have popularised the Igwe theme to the extent that Nigerians and others
erroneously believe that the Igbos are monarchical. Senayo, who
disclosed that the paper is part of an ongoing research and who used
‘My Kingdom Come’ as example, submitted that Nollywood has succeeded in
diffusing the concept of Igbo monarchy into Nigerian popular culture.

Beyond the ordinary

“Translation and
credit are areas people have not concentrated on. We are planning a
workshop for translators and people in Nollywood have to focus on
credits. The way their own names are spelt is an apology,” noted
Ayakoroma while reacting to comments on the papers. He also seemed to
suggest that subtitling is unnecessary, saying, “subtitling subtracts
from the viewing experience.” Adedun, who was taken up on his
dismissive comments, insisted that Nollywood has a long way to go with
subtitling. “Nollywood movies are content-driven, they are
message-driven, unlike Hollywood and Bollywood productions that are
action driven,” he declared. Though he agreed that there are
theoretical and cultural factors that guide subtitling, he insisted
that what currently obtains is not subtitling. Adedun who also admitted
the difficulty in translating chants and proverbs, urged Yoruba
filmmakers to strive “to go beyond the ordinary.” Director of ‘Tango
With Me’, Mahmood Ali-Balogun who attended the session with some of his
colleagues including Kunle Afolayan and Bimbo Manuel, defended
filmmakers against flaws highlighted by the speakers. He explained that
every frame in a movie tells a story and that language is just to help
the viewer. “Why subtitling appears to be problematic in Nollywood is
because movies are not well made,” he said, adding that things are
changing.

Ali-Balogun also commented on the negative portrayal of women in
movies. He explained that patriarchy is not the cause but that
“producers tell stories they want to tell. My own movies give women
voice. Most of the issues your papers are on are being taken care of.
Very soon, you won’t dwell on them.”