Genre and Social Consciousness in West African Cinema

          When people search for political films or films that comment on culture they typically seek out dramas and or art house films. Why are art house films and foreign films typically the bastion of academics and intellectuals? It seems counterintuitive to use something esoteric to highlight an issue or cause social change. One of the great things about visual storytelling and movies in particular are their accessibility as both an art form and communication tool. Aside from the oral tradition for the majority of human history consuming forms of storytelling like theatre and the written word was the privilege of the wealthy and elite. Today storytelling especially visual storytelling is consumed by the masses. Despite not being highly literate people today are more sophisticated consumers of story and narrative than ever before. For film theorist West African cinema is fertile ground to explore this intersection.

          Despite melodrama and comedy being considered “B” genres they are important genres both as art and cultural/political influence. The accessibility of cinema makes it an ideal to disseminating information to the masses. This is one of the reasons that German and Italian fascists were film enthusiasts.  Nollywood also unfairly faces a similar stigma as the comedy and melodrama genres. “Academic criticism has often ignored, condescended to, or denounced the videos because they did not seem politically serious.” (Haynes 2006). Coincidently melodrama and comedy are prominent genres in Nollywood cinema.

          Melodrama is a word that is used often in American vernacular but similar to the term found footage melodrama’s pop usage is often different from its academic definition. For the purposes of this paper is melodrama is a narrative work characterized by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance of plot and physical action over characterization. TV has a long history in Nigeria. Melodrama and comedy have a long history in television most commonly sitcoms and soap operas. Nigeria also has a long history of Spanish language soap operas called telenovelas. This history makes comedy and melodrama ideal genres for the Nigerian film industry.

          Using genres that are widely consumed by and associated with television is important to Nollywood’s appeal. Nollywood films are produced with home viewing in mind. Nollywood films are typically distributed via home viewing mediums like VHS, DVD, and VCD.  Despite Nollywood not having a wide theatrical release in the major West African movie theatre chains it remains an influential movement in West African cinema. “… advances in the industry of motion picture making could only be measured by the control over the means of production that a filmmaker secured, not by a film’s financial triumph.” (Genova 2013). Nollywood capitalizing on the home video market and direct to market distribution helped lead to an African owned movie industry. Before Nollywood much of West Africa’s film industry was dependent on overseas financing largely from Western Europe and North America. This reflected the neo colonialism that arose in post colonial West Africa. Nollywood being an African owned film industry with African filmmakers and African actors gives Nollywood an important role to play in decolonization.

          Not all West African Cinema is a Nollywood film but Nollywood films are West African cinema. Two large distinctions in West African cinema are African art house films verses Nollywood. Both can be political but the two differ greatly in esthetics, distribution, and cinematic grammar. Nollywood has a DIY esthetic utilizing video in its infancy before moving onto digital formats with better resolution and overall visual quality. Nollywood films also have a unique cinematic grammar ignoring things like continuity editing. Narratively Nollywood again breaks from convention. Films have longer run times then the average feature length motion picture produced in the west. In addition plot points will often be repeated. The repetition is important because Nollywood films are produced with home consumption in mind and take into account the viewer maybe doing household chores. Nollywood films are distributed mainly direct to video and African art house cinema is typically distributed via the festival circuit and screened in art house theatres in Europe and America.

          Despite African art house cinema often having overt political statements these films are rarely screened in Africa. For this very practical reason Nollywood films are a much more effective way of reaching African audiences. Despite this fact Nollywood’s esthetics and cinematic grammar are often used to be dismissive and reductionist towards Nollywood these are some of the factors that make Nollywood film’s more accessible in both viewership and production.

          Nollywood is not just a regional movie industry. Nollywood’s output makes it one of the largest movie industries in the world and similar to other large movie industries like Hollywood and Daliwood Nollywood exports a large volume of product. This export of a West African art form produced and distributed by Africans is influential in the pan African movement. Both during colonialism and post colonialism Africa has experienced a Diaspora. Africans and African culture spans the globe to places like the U.K., France, The Caribbean, The United States, and Canada to name but a few. The Nollywood film The Messenger (2013) is a comedy that can have a political reading of both the text and subtext of the film. In The Messenger (2013) everyone speaks Igbo even white Londoners and traditional Nigerian food and beer is prevalent. Instead of the colonial gaze depicting Africa we now have the Nigerian gaze depicting London. Themes associated with the pan Africa movement, colonialism, and the Diaspora is prevalent in the accessible and enjoyable comedy.

          In many ways Nollywood clashes with the ethos of third cinema. Third cinema is a cinematic movement that essentially states colonialism and neo colonialism are such critical issues that filmmakers need to ignore any commercial or mass appeal considerations in lieu of communicating serious political messages. In principle I agree with third cinema however in practical application Nollywood is a much more effective tool for communicating to mass audiences. The old adage sung by Marry Poppins is still true, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” (Andrews 1964). 

          Aside from the inaccessibility of African art films to the African masses in terms of consumption it is even less accessible in terms of the means of production due to the high costs related to equipment and materials necessary to make feature length films with traditional Hollywood production values. “The videos established themselves as an essential medium through which Nigeria represented itself to itself during the 1990’s…” (Haynes 2006). VHS & digital technology has played a huge role democratizing the craft of filmmaking & cinema culture globally and nowhere has the impact been as great as Nollywood.

          VHS and digital technology have caused great changes in both filmmaking and consumption of cinema in the twenty first century. It has made visual storytelling a much more accessible art form in terms of consumption and production. VHS is much cheaper then film stock and does not need to be processed before it can be edited. Also, VHS is much cheaper and easier to dub then 35mm film. This fact combined with the long history and popularity of television in Nigeria made this an ideal way to disseminate movies. These video movies were rarely if ever screened in Nigeria in the mainstream movie theatres. The screens in those theatres screened mostly foreign blockbuster films. This led to the rise of the video parlor. In Nollywood Africans are not only the filmmakers and talent they now control distribution and exhibition as well.

          If one’s goal is decolonization it is important to control the means of production and distribution. For years countries rich with natural resources saw the majority of its citizens live in poverty. That is because the general populace had no ownership in production or distribution there by not sharing in the win fall of profits when these raw materials were processed and exported. Nollywood as opposed to African art films are far more effective in combating colonization and promoting decolonization. African art films may have powerful messages but they often times receive funding from European and North American investors and production companies. This relationship helps perpetuate neo colonialism despite often times the best of intentions of both the filmmaker and investors.

          An important part of decolonization that art and pop culture play a role in is self representation. “Nigerian video films are the leading form of Nigerian popular culture.” (Haynes 2006). Africans controlling how stories about Africa and Africans are portrayed impact cultural perception. Films like Osufia in London (2003) are African films that do not have the colonial gaze while also entertaining mainstream audiences with its comedy that is both broad and accessible while also being political.

          Osufia in London (2003) is a comedy that appears to be a classic fish out of water story and is certainly not an African art film but that doesn’t mean it is not a political film. The political aspect of this story is instead of the audience laughing at Osufia for being a stranger in a strange land and ignorant of the customs the British are exposed and lampooned for both their greed and absurdity. Osufia is triumphant despite being underestimated by those who seek to defraud him.

          The Messenger (2013), Moolaade (2004), Ceddo (1977), Osufia in London (2003), Maami (2011) are all valid works of art despite some being African art films and others being Nollywood films or some being comedies and other melodramas. Separating films by “high” art and “low” art is reductionist and causes an incomplete study of film theory. Nollywood as a movement has many unique qualities such as its DIY esthetic and ignoring modern contemporary cinematic grammar. However in light of the issues stemming from colonization and neocolonialism Nollywood’s contributions to the craft of filmmaking are not as important as its ability to reach the average person. A film industry where Africans own, produce, perform in, distribute, and exhibit their own motion pictures is important in an area of the world victimized by colonialism and neocolonialism. Nollywood illustrates the triumph of independent film culture in Nigeria as both a powerful art form for expression but a vehicle for political and social change.

Works Cited

Mary Poppins. Directed by Robert Stevenson. Performed by Julie Andrews. 1964.

The Messenger. Directed by Obi Emelonye. 2013.

Genova, James E. Cinema And Development In West Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013.

Haynes, Jonathan. "Political Critique In Nigerian Video Films." African Affairs, 2006: 511-533.

Maami. Directed by Tunde Kelani. 2011.

Osuofia In London. Directed by Kingsley Ogoro. 2003.

Ceddo. Directed by Ousmane Sembene. 1977.

Moolaade. Directed by Ousmane Sembene. 2004.