OVER the years, the paradigm shift from
the hasty film production practice which
popularized the Nigerian motion picture
industry has been described by many as
the new Nollywood era . The
development is associated with films
that have defied the first option of
direct -to- home- video and settled first,
for cinema exhibitions. Beginning with
‘ Through the Glass ’, a school project
directed by actress Stephanie Okereke in
2006 , the list has since swollen to
include flicks like Kunle Afolayan ’s ‘The
Figurine ’ and ‘Phone Swap ’; Mahmood
Ali -Balogun ’s ‘ Tango with Me ’; Chineze
Anyaene ’s ‘Ije: The Journey ’ and Funke
Akindele ’s ‘Return of Jenifa ’ amongst
others .
But with a new window for higher
budget movies, occasioned by the
Federal Government’s $ 200 million
intervention fund which is being
managed by the Nigerian Export- Import
( NEXIM ) Bank and the Bank of Industry
( BoI), and the most recent N 3 billion
proposed grant in custody of the
Ministry of Finance, industry watchers
believe that , soon , Nigeria may no
longer be about low budget , obsolete
format movies, that cannot rank in the
class of some Oscar-famed Hollywood
and Bollywood films .
Emotions heightened Sunday afternoon
during a panel discussion on the
Nigeria’ s emerging film industry which
held at the makeshift filmmaker ’s
lounge in Hyatt Regency, in the ongoing
Toronto International Film Festival
( TIFF), Canada.
Filmmakers from Nigeria feel that there
is a market for every film and the plight
of most Nollywood filmmakers is to
satisfy the home market first and
foremost. They are of the opinion that it
is important to dwell on the business
success of Nigerian movies first, before
considering the prestige that Oscar
hopeful flicks could give to the country.
They are concerned that as laudable as
the federal government loans for the
film industry is , obtaining a loan to
shoot a movie without first tackling the
problem of distribution cannot
guarantee adequate return on
investment . The gathering decried the
dearth of cinema houses in Nigeria and
the near total absence of community
cinemas .
The festival witnessed one of the largest
gathering of filmmakers, government
officials and Nigerians in the Diaspora in
recent times, who seized the
opportunity of the official premiere
selection of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, a
screen adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’ s Orange Prize- winning novel of
the same title , to be a part of a focus
discussion set by the festival organizers .
Tagged ‘Nigeria beyond Nollywood’, the
one- hour panel was anchored by a
professor of Film Studies at the Canada’s
Capital Varsity , the Carleton University ’s
Mr . Aboubakar Sanogo who was joined
by filmmaker , Mahmood Ali - Balogun
and the team of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ ,
who shared their experiences on the
movie project.
The discussion , which was meant to
explore the possibility of institutional
support , high technology and new
business approach to enhance
Nollywood’ s better global acceptability
soon turned to an argument on whether
or not the model employed by the
producers of ‘ Half of a Yellow Sun’ was
the only solution necessary for the
success of Nollywood.
The topic appeared inappropriate to the
filmmakers , who thought that the
moderator could have redirected the
discussion in the areas of possible co-
production and the lessons to be learnt
from the ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ project
which is financed by Nigeria and UK on
70 percent and 30 percent ratio
respectively .
Ali -Balogun differed with the subject of
discussion when he noted that
Nollywood remains the generic name for
the Nigerian film industry , and that
government ’s orientation concerning
support for the industry has changed ;
citing examples of the $200 million loan
and N 3 billion grant by the Federal
Government for the entertainment
industry in Nigeria.
But Yewande Sadiku, an investment
banker with 17 years experience who
raised the funds for ‘ Half of a Yellow
Sun’ maintained that there are greater
opportunities to be enjoyed by
filmmakers if they are willing to get out
of their comfort zones of producing
mainly for the local market.
She argued that the business of
filmmaking will be respected if
Nollywood filmmakers learn to leave the
aspect of financing to experts. “‘ Half of
a Yellow Sun’ project chose me because
I have the skills that are relevant to get
it going,” she said, noting however , that
it was tough getting investors to fund
the movie , but for her goodwill ,
popularity of the author and success of
the book, which she said has sold more
than a million copies and has been
translated into 30 languages . “If a book
has to be written about the sourcing of
finance for this movie, it would be titled
‘ How not to fund a film’, she joked.
Sadiku ’s position was supported by co-
panelists; Biyi Bandele, the movie
director ; Andrea Calderwood , the
producer and Kisha Cameron-Dingle , a
producer at Completion Films, a body
known for funding of short films in
Africa .
Ali -Balogun insisted that the ‘Half of a
Yellow Sun’ model is not the best for
Nollywood: “Going by what Yewande
said , I think it ’s not the model that we
can work with in Nigeria. Nollywood is
what it is today because of the share
volume and share tenacity of the
filmmakers . How many movies can we
make in the model of ‘Half of a Yellow
Sun? ‘ . I produce first and foremost for
Nigerians . This kind of budget is
difficult to recoup.” He noted.
Differing, Sadiku argued that the
problem of whether or not money spent
on movies can be recouped should not
be the business of the filmmaker : “I
actually believe that it is possible to
raise equity funding for Nigerian films ,
but such monies should not be raised
by filmmakers , because filmmakers do
not understand finance. If a filmmaker
needs to raise decent money , I would
suggest they talk to financiers who
understand financial structures ,” She
averred .
While some filmmakers praised the
effort of Bank of Industry for
supporting the movie and other projects
brought to them by filmmakers, they
felt that other government agencies
need to do more to support the
intervention policy of the federal
government through realistic collateral.
Veteran filmmaker , Gabriel Okoye (Igwe
Gabosky ), did not mince words in
attacking some agencies of government
that he thought do not have business
participating at the festival. He said BoI
has done well, by approving his loan of
N 300 million to set up distribution
facilities for Nollywood. He noted that
without a proper distribution and
exhibition structure, it would be
foolhardy for any agency to invest in
movies which have Nigeria as the major
distribution window .
Gabosky is in Toronto as member of a
new organisation called Nigerian
Entertainment Business Group (NEBG) .
Other members of that group at the
festival include retired banker and
Nollywood enthusiast , Charles Igwe and
the Association of Nollywood Core
Producers ’ President, Alex Enyengho.
Other attendees include the Bank of
Industry with Uche Nwuka and Promise
George as the two delegates, National
Film and Video Censors Board ( NFVCB )
with about 10 delegates, led by the the
Acting Director General, Ms Patricia
Bala and the team from Africa
International Film Festival (AFRIFF ) ,
comprising four delegates, led by
founder of the Festival, Chioma Ude.
One individual who has sponsored a
large delegation of journalists,
filmmakers and actors to the festival is
the Chief Executive Officer of Africa
Movie Academy Awards ( AMAA), Peace
Anyiam- Osigwe. The AMAA boss , who
enjoys a long- standing relationship with
the festival programmers is at the event
to promote the continental film reward
system , while also networking and
sourcing films for the 10th edition of
the AMAA which may take place in South
Africa next year.
The AMAA sponsored Africa Cinema
Business Roundtable ( ACBR) at the
prestigious Fairmont Royal York Hotel ,
turned out to be the only session at the
festival that bought African filmmakers
together . With keynote address given by
Dayo Ogunyemi, CEO of 234 Media, the
session left no one in doubt of the
pragmatic approach available for Africa
in the areas of policy, funding ,
distribution and sustainability .
Osigwe noted that her drive , apart from
running the AMAAs , is to provide
answers to structural challenges of
distribution in Africa for which she has
partnered with Ogunyemi in the last 10
years.
Some members of the AMAA group
include Secretary General, Tony Anih ;
Director of Production, Sunny McDon,
Media Consultant, Tope Ajayi, actor
Frank Dallas , E 24/ 7 Publisher , Biodun
Kupoluyi, Chairman of College of
Screeners , Shaibu Husseini and
Chairman Jury for AMAA 2014 , Steve
Ayorinde.
0 100000:
Post a Comment