Why Africa Has Nollywood Films, And No ‘Native’ Answer To ‘Out of Africa’
Why Africa Has Nollywood Films, And No ‘Native’ Answer To ‘Out of Africa’
Posted:Sat 26 Mar, 2011 (18:08 EST)It’s striking that since the 1985 film “Out of Africa”, which was shot in Kenya and swept a sackful of awards, including seven Oscars, no other film made in Africa has come close to bagging so much glory.
Not that there have been no great efforts. There have, indeed, been superb ones; Forest Whitaker in the “Last King of Scotland”, a film about dictator Idi Amin that was shot in Uganda (Whitaker won an Oscar for Best Actor). There was “Invictus”, on Nelson Mandela’s inspiring role in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, starring Matt Damon and the man with the wonderful voice Morgan Freeman. And then “Blood Diamond”, with Leonardo DiCaprio. And bits of “Tomb Raider” (Angelina Jolie), “Inception”, again Leonardo DiCaprio. The list is long.
It is even more interesting that none of these films have left a noticeable legacy. What is big in Africa today are the Nigerian films, popularly know Nollywood, the second largest film industry in the world in terms of output after India’s Bollywood. Depending on where you sit, Nollywood’s penchant for witchcraft, the occult, evil step-mothers, and treacherous pot-bellied polygamists, is either terrible stuff that confounds the stereotype of Africa as a “heart of darkness”, or good authentic material. Whatever your position, Nollywood is hugely popular in Africa – which is it’s easily the most pirated African product.
It is difficult to make money from it, as a result, but a growing group of shrewd and ruthless producers and directors – and actors- have figured how to work Nollywood, and have become fabulously rich and famous (breaking bootleggers’ legs is one of the ways in which they discourage copyright theft).
Meanwhile, Africa’s more mainstream and socially committed directors, who are among the continent’s best, often find that they need grants to make the more thoughtful films that say something profound.
That said, I refuse to despair. It is enough that the more highbrow material is still being made, and often it finds international recognition. There was there was South Africa's Grammy award-winning Tsotsi, and, Kenyan Salim Amin's "Mo&Me".
But perhaps the most heartening development has been the growth of the documentary, slow as it might be. Folks like Kenya's Judy Kibinge are experimenting with interesting ideas. Her short film "The Killer Necklace", inspired as the name suggests by the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, has won recognition.
Another Kenyan docu-drama maker who has found international traction is the youthful Lupita Nyong'o. Her "In My Genes" did very well in a New York festival two years ago. It is a tearjerker and stunning in the cleverness of its simplicity.
Nollywood too is improving. The cinematography has got better, and the storylines are more thought-through.
I have always been struck, though, that Kenyan directors in particular have hardly fallen for Nollywood style approaches.
Kenya is driven by urban and youth angst, and Tahidi Hill, is as good an example of the latter as you will find anywhere in Africa.
Yet even in Kenya, there is only the occasional foray into history, as with “Out of Africa”, based on events between 1914 and 1931 in colonial Kenya, and the adventures of Danish Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke in the “bush”.
Perhaps it is because few directors are ready to assume the burden of telling our history in film. It is easier for a European or American because they hardly have to make any local accountability for their treatment of the subject. However, but African directors must be ready to endure divisive reviews in which they are accused of taking a particular point of view because of their tribe, or how much or little, their grandparents profited from colonialism. In the goodness of time, even that shall be overcome.
Related articles:
- TOP AFRICAN FILM DIRECTORS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
- RECORDS AND AWARDS FOR THE FILM ‘OUT OF AFRICA’
Not that there have been no great efforts. There have, indeed, been superb ones; Forest Whitaker in the “Last King of Scotland”, a film about dictator Idi Amin that was shot in Uganda (Whitaker won an Oscar for Best Actor). There was “Invictus”, on Nelson Mandela’s inspiring role in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, starring Matt Damon and the man with the wonderful voice Morgan Freeman. And then “Blood Diamond”, with Leonardo DiCaprio. And bits of “Tomb Raider” (Angelina Jolie), “Inception”, again Leonardo DiCaprio. The list is long.
It is even more interesting that none of these films have left a noticeable legacy. What is big in Africa today are the Nigerian films, popularly know Nollywood, the second largest film industry in the world in terms of output after India’s Bollywood. Depending on where you sit, Nollywood’s penchant for witchcraft, the occult, evil step-mothers, and treacherous pot-bellied polygamists, is either terrible stuff that confounds the stereotype of Africa as a “heart of darkness”, or good authentic material. Whatever your position, Nollywood is hugely popular in Africa – which is it’s easily the most pirated African product.
It is difficult to make money from it, as a result, but a growing group of shrewd and ruthless producers and directors – and actors- have figured how to work Nollywood, and have become fabulously rich and famous (breaking bootleggers’ legs is one of the ways in which they discourage copyright theft).
Meanwhile, Africa’s more mainstream and socially committed directors, who are among the continent’s best, often find that they need grants to make the more thoughtful films that say something profound.
That said, I refuse to despair. It is enough that the more highbrow material is still being made, and often it finds international recognition. There was there was South Africa's Grammy award-winning Tsotsi, and, Kenyan Salim Amin's "Mo&Me".
But perhaps the most heartening development has been the growth of the documentary, slow as it might be. Folks like Kenya's Judy Kibinge are experimenting with interesting ideas. Her short film "The Killer Necklace", inspired as the name suggests by the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, has won recognition.
Another Kenyan docu-drama maker who has found international traction is the youthful Lupita Nyong'o. Her "In My Genes" did very well in a New York festival two years ago. It is a tearjerker and stunning in the cleverness of its simplicity.
Nollywood too is improving. The cinematography has got better, and the storylines are more thought-through.
I have always been struck, though, that Kenyan directors in particular have hardly fallen for Nollywood style approaches.
Kenya is driven by urban and youth angst, and Tahidi Hill, is as good an example of the latter as you will find anywhere in Africa.
Yet even in Kenya, there is only the occasional foray into history, as with “Out of Africa”, based on events between 1914 and 1931 in colonial Kenya, and the adventures of Danish Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke in the “bush”.
Perhaps it is because few directors are ready to assume the burden of telling our history in film. It is easier for a European or American because they hardly have to make any local accountability for their treatment of the subject. However, but African directors must be ready to endure divisive reviews in which they are accused of taking a particular point of view because of their tribe, or how much or little, their grandparents profited from colonialism. In the goodness of time, even that shall be overcome.
Related articles:
- TOP AFRICAN FILM DIRECTORS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
- RECORDS AND AWARDS FOR THE FILM ‘OUT OF AFRICA’
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