More About African Cinema
This month’s Feature Article is unique in that it is a response to the last month’s article on African Cinema. Uba Atkins Onyenedum is a writer and philosopher from Nigeria and his difficulties in Nigeria are
a universal lament that personifies ‘Truth’ to all filmmakers.
Introduction by John Gaskin.
There are different voices that express universal themes
from different perspectives. Uba Atkins Onyenedum, a writer
and philosopher from Nigeria, has blown me away with his
talent to impinge with a different voice. His difficulties
in Nigeria are a universal lament that personifies ‘Truth’
to all filmmakers. I couldn’t help but see his difficulties
with financiers in the same league as our financiers in
North America – see if you agree with me.
Recently I sent Mr. Uba Atlkins Onyenedum, an internet
acquaintance from Nigeria, an article issued by “The
Director’s Chair.” That article was written by Shirley Okwi,
University of Uganda, where she says that African films are
primarily didactic (dealing with moral issues). Uba’s
heartfelt response was so truthful, so meaningful to all of
us in the business of making films, that I felt it deserved
to be shown to others as inspiration. Some of his notes
about the financing of films is a universal lament – see if
you agree with me.
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RE: AFRICAN CINEMA
(Uba Onyenedum)
I find the “Overview article” written by Shirley Okwi on
AFRICAN CINEMA interesting and think that it elicits a
reaction such as the one I am offering hereunder. Africa is
rich with stories that, when shot into films, can linger in
the minds of their viewers for a long time. Good films are
like good music. They transcend all language barriers.
African cinema should be encouraged, viewed as moving, and
not simply dismissed as “static and naïve”.
As a Nigerian living in Nigeria and having experienced the
birth of the movie industry here and its concomitant “flared
up” (using the words of Shirley) growth, I honestly think
that there are issues and recent developments within Nigeria
and by extension Africa, which Shirley missed out on.
It is true that African films are didactic. The African
culture, which is generally simplistic (unsophisticated) is
largely responsible. Africa’s literacy level is sorrowfully
low compared to the rest of the world. However, many films
coming out from Nigeria are starting to tell the stories by
themselves, which is indicative that there is a hunger and a
sincere intention to get better. We are aware that a good
film should tell its story. I think that Nigeria is quietly
pioneering this transition.
Truly, Nigerian movies are made for home consumption but in
its short history, the emphasis has never been on
colonialism but rather on socio-cultural issues and
dilemmas. If writers write from their social and cultural
experiences and backgrounds, then the movies naturally
respond to the tastes of the people at whom the stories are
targeted.
Very often, return on investment is what powers any business
and from that perspective, social issues of ritual murder of
fellow human beings in order to use their various parts to
make medicine for material wealth, and marital sex scandals,
are part of the big attractions in Nigeria today. These
social topics are not included in Shirley’s periscope. I
strongly submit that Nigeria and the rest of the
English-speaking West African coasts have left behind the
thematic covered by Shirley. Maybe, elsewhere in Africa,
they are still brooding over and dwelling in the past
(colonial and neo-colonial themes) and by so doing, they are
missing the privileges of today and the opportunities of
tomorrow. This is not so in Nigeria and Ghana and some other
English-speaking African countries. (I must admit that I am
totally ignorant about the film industry in the
French-speaking African countries).
May I state here that the average Nigerian viewer is
starting to yearn for films with better plot, settings and
good technical quality. The people would appreciate a good
story and even Nigerian screen writers are beginning to
develop the mind set for stories with a substantial measure
of intricate depth; but, the obstacles are mountainous in
nature and they include:
First, Nigerian Directors are neophytes, untrained and are
also extremely constrained by a serious lack of funds. The
technical aspect of filmmaking in Nigeria is, to say the
least, non existent. Imagine shooting a film with a single
16 mm camera. Little is known here about how to
professionally have a comprehensive film budget. Project
implementation is usually adhoc and this is not good for the
industry.
Second, today’s Nigerian movie industry is totally financed
and controlled by uneducated traders who, though are
strikingly rich, would never get into funding a film the
plot of which is way beyond their unschooled minds. For this
class, a plot must be pedestal or mundane. They don’t care
that a story is so neatly plotted that it can win an
international nomination. Their interest is to keep any
story local and within the understanding and easy
assimilation of the huge illiterate populace. They don’t
give a damn about technical quality.
A more pitiable ancillary to the Directors’ dilemma is that
a lot of times, these illiterate financiers usurp the
Director’s job. They decide the actors, sequence of
shootings and the duration. An entire shooting is usually
completed in seven days without much chance of “re-takes”.
It is their money and their distribution network. This is
part of the bane of our industry.
Third, if one adds those issues listed in the earlier part
of this write up to the two above, one can then better
understand why the industry in Nigeria is stuck at the “home
consumption”.
Nigerians are good copycats and therefore, have no problem
learning new tricks. “OSUFIA IN LONDON”, shot in London and
Nigeria, became an instant hit for not only Nigerians living
in Nigeria but even for those resident in the UK. It grossed
a lot of foreign exchange. There are a few more of these
home made movies with marginal artistic quality. Some of our
actors possess potentials that can be easily exploited. They
only need the right grooming. This is no exaggeration.
In Nigeria, the bone is to find investors who will go beyond
these illiterate financiers, and look into the future of
that which has the potential to be the country’s third major
foreign exchange earner. With a population of over one
hundred and twenty million, and a highly resourceful people,
the Nigerian film industry will grow and even win Oscar
(This country has a huge internal market just like America).
This will become real the very day there steps forward
investors that are willing to seriously consider good
stories and then go ahead to take the normal business risk.
Once the initiative is taken away from the present crop of
indigenous investors, the global industry will be surprised
at the number of beautiful scripts from this country. Then
we will no longer be a home consumption industry. Many
writers in Nigeria are already working on stories that go
beyond the stereotypes but they need a lot of “backing up”
and an assurance that attempts will be made to tackle those
inhibiting factors already afore-cited.
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Uba Atkins Onyenedum is a Nigerian Writer and Philosopher.
Uba’s keen spirit and powerful voice brings his country of
120 Million people into focus. Like many creative people, he
has experienced life in its many ups and downs. In addition
to his writing, Uba has worked in various walks of life and
is currently part of an international office furniture
business. You can email Uba at mailto:wisemann2k1@yahoo.com
To read an excerpt of Uba’s voice, read “They Came” at
http://www.talkfilm.biz/Uba.php
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Copyright (c) 2006 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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