Nollywood -- home of the "Fast-Forward to make things more exciting" cinematic technique
See the trailer to "Last Occult" here for a great example. posted by Damn That Television at 10:18 AM on August 12, 2008
"Dear sir, I write you with urgent business proposal for which I will pay you sum of TEN MILLION AMERICAN DOLLARS. I am Martin Ngobe, a filmmaker in Nigeria, with your assistance I will complete my newest film..." posted by optovox at 10:20 AM on August 12, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]
Optovox win the prize for first unoriginal idiot to make a 419 joke. Congrats.
What's interesting is that this is all very recent, with other film industries you have a long standing tradition of shooting on film, whereas the Nigerian film industry started just a few years ago, and mostly started out on VHS. I've seen parts of one Nigerian film that still had the date and time stamp in the corner, like you'd see on old VHS tapes. posted by delmoi at 10:23 AM on August 12, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]
What's interesting is that this is all very recently
Yeah, the wikipedia article says the industry is only 13 years old. No doubt cheap digital cameras and cheaper computers helped fuel this. posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:27 AM on August 12, 2008
I was going to ask where these guys were getting this money, but optovox beat me to it. posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:40 AM on August 12, 2008
I like the Hugo photographs, especially this one. I wonder what prints sell for? posted by Forktine at 11:05 AM on August 12, 2008
Optovox win the prize for first unoriginal idiot to make a 419 joke.
I'm glad you called him an idiot. You've clearly raised the level of discourse back up from where he'd dragged it with his lowly and scandalous 419 joke. posted by shmegegge at 11:22 AM on August 12, 2008
does that link go where it was supposed to go? posted by shmegegge at 11:34 AM on August 12, 2008
Damn that Television, many an almost unwatchable movie has been saved for me by putting on subtitles and watching at 4x speed. It takes the sting out of bad acting and slow pacing. posted by BrotherCaine at 11:34 AM on August 12, 2008
Huge Pieter Hugo fan here. Related post with a focus on his often jaw droppingly raw work of those amazing pet hyena owners in Nigeria.
Those Nigerian film industry images are surreal in their jagged shock value, smacks to the eyeball. They are almost funny but so brutal somehow, it's breathtaking.
Had no idea about Nollywood. Heard about Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, Lollywood. Can't wait to check out the story behind Nollywood. Looking forward to exploring those links when I get back from work.
Thanks for the great post. posted by nickyskye at 12:03 PM on August 12, 2008
Here's the basic plot of a Nigerian movie I saw on a bus in Ghana:
- two midget twins are local kingpins/strongmen (Aki and Pawpaw?)
- variety of witches/wizards try to influence community
- someone drowns
- government to be overthrown: lots of dramatic shots of government buildings, freeways
- tanks?
Yeah, the wikipedia article says the industry is only 13 years old. No doubt cheap digital cameras and cheaper computers helped fuel this.
Well, cheap analogue video cameras to start with, although I'm sure most film makers have moved on to digital by now.
Another thing to consider is the huge impact high oil prices are having on the Nigerian economy. It's really booming right now.
I'm glad you called him an idiot. You've clearly raised the level of discourse back up from where he'd dragged it with his lowly and scandalous 419 joke.
At least I managed to get in some on-topic commentary. posted by delmoi at 3:18 PM on August 12, 2008
At least I managed to get in some on-topic commentary.
True, and that's a good thing, so thanks. But honestly, I don't think there was any good reason to call him an idiot. Something more like "wow, that was lame" or "that joke was unoriginal and sucked a dick" or basically anything that didn't attack him as a person would have gotten your point across, and would have been measurably more civil to boot. posted by shmegegge at 3:29 PM on August 12, 2008
"Pieter Hugo photographs the Nigerian film industry, where a digital camera, 2 lights, nine days and $20k translates into a feature film. NSFW. "
On that Nigeria Movies site linked above, great titles and very affordable at $5.85 each. I'm going to see if I can get my local video rental store to buy some.
Yet in just 13 years, Nollywood has grown from nothing into a $250 million dollar-a-year industry that employs thousands of people. The Nollywood phenomenon was made possible by two main ingredients: Nigerian entrepreneurship and digital technology.
and
Experts credit the birth of Nollywood to a businessman who needed to unload thousands of blank tapes and to the 1992 video release of Living in Bondage, a movie with a tale of the occult that was an instant and huge-selling success. It wasn't long before other would-be producers jumped on the bandwagon.
and
Thirty new titles are delivered to Nigerian shops and market stalls every week, where an average film sells 50,000 copies. A hit may sell several hundred thousand. Disks sell for two dollars each, making them affordable for most Nigerians and providing astounding returns for the producers.
It's such an amazing, unlikely story. One of strange and interesting hope. posted by nickyskye at 5:20 PM on August 12, 2008
George, a simple son of an army general studying engineering, falls in love with the wife of HITLER!
I had thought I heard an article on this on NPR, but my memory was false -- it was about the Algerian film indystry. Still pretty interesting. Link here. posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 8:10 AM on August 13, 2008
Guy_Inamonkeysuit:
Your memory might not be false after all. There was a Marketplace story about Nollywood from the perspective of one of its most successful actors. posted by of strange foe at 10:28 AM on August 13, 2008
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See the trailer to "Last Occult" here for a great example.
posted by Damn That Television at 10:18 AM on August 12, 2008