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Welcome to Nollywood
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Wikipedia article
'Welcome to Nollywood' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Jamie Meltzer, which premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival,[http://www.fullframefest.org/about/film2007.php?filmid=4240 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival] and also played at the Avignon Film Festival[http://www.avignonfilmfest.com/FestivalProgram2007.html Avignon Film Festival 2007 Schedule] and the Melbourne International Film Festival in the summer of 2007.[http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/ Melbourne International Film Festival]
Premise
The Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, has exploded in the last ten years. Now the most popular cinema in all of West Africamore popular even than imports of Hollywood or Bollywood filmsthe Nigerian film industry has distinguished itself by shooting all films (called video films there) on digital video. This has allowed production schedules to be compressed (films are shot in several days) and immediately brought to market (distribution consists of bringing films to Idumota electronics market in Lagos and selling them for home viewing). The sheer volume of Nigerian video films is staggering: one estimate has a film being produced for each day of the year. Nollywood is now the third-largest film industry in the world, generating US$286 million per year for the Nigerian economy. And yet this vibrant, profitable industry is virtually unknown outside of Africa.
The film looks into this newly emerging film industry, exploring its peculiar inner workings, economic challenges, and diverse array of colorful films. Traveling to the countrys chaotic largest city, Lagos, Meltzer spent ten weeks following three of Nigerias hottest directors, each different in personality and style, as they shot their films about love, betrayal, war and the supernatural. 'Welcome to Nollywood' tells the stories of these three directors and their latest productions, whilst also using interviews with scholars, actors, and journalists who celebrate, in insightful and often humorous ways, the Nigerian video-film industry as a whole, its unique character and genres, as well as its impact on the culture of West Africa and Africans at home and abroad.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034469/ Welcome to Nollywood IMDb Page]
Cast list (documentary subjects)
* Izu Ojukwu - Director
* Chico Ejiro - Producer/Director
* Don Pedro Obaseki - Producer/Director
* Charles Novia -Producer/Director
* Shan George - Actress
* Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima - Producer
* Tunde Kelani - Producer/Director
* J.T. Tom West - Actor
* Richard Mofe Damijo - Actor
* Francis Duru - Actor
Reception
Review by Lisa Nesselson at 'Variety' from the Avignon Film Festival: "Jamie Meltzer's 'Welcome to Nollywood' boasts wall-to-wall bravado filtered through African-style entrepreneurship: Hook any of the producer-directors profiled here to a generator and the energy might just offset global reliance on oil. Docu is a must for cinema classrooms and fests and a hoot for curious auds on tube and beyond."[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934161.html Review at Variety.com]
See also
* Cinema of Nigeria
* 'This Is Nollywood'
* 'Nollywood Babylon'
References
Buy Welcome to Nollywood now from Amazon
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