Nollywood filmmakers gets inspiration from Nigeria’s elections

With its unions and perceived treacheries, wrongdoings and money, and even a dash of black magic, the dramatic spots of Nigeria’s political issues are motivating directors from the nation’s Nollywood film industry.

The adventure encompassing Nigeria’s ongoing elections, deferred for seven days only hours before casting a ballot began, has Nollywood producers persuaded they may have hit film gold reports the Vanguard.

“I can do 100 movies based on Nigerian politics, There is too much drama going on (…) and I believe that, as storytellers cx c, it’s our responsibility to start the conversation and begin to start changes,” says Nollywood director Ike Nnaebue per the Vanguard.

With 190 million individuals in Nigeria and a developing more extensive group of onlookers on the African continent and among Nigeria’s diaspora, Nollywood has turned into the world’s second-biggest cinema business after India’s Bollywood with regard to the number of movies the industry churns out. Also, delicious political issues is progressively a topic. In Dr. Mekan, a parody released in 2018, Nnaebue tells the story of the ascent of a “repat”, a Nigerian who grew up or lived abroad for quite a while and who came back to live in Nigeria, frequently disengaged from the real world.

“As soon as he comes back from the States, he has fantastic ideas of how to run his state and wants to become governor of Anambra. He has good intentions, but he doesn’t understand how things are being done in Nigeria,” the director says.

In one key scene, the candidate makes an ambitious election promise to improve agriculture and develop local rice cultivation. The crowd applaud but a rumour runs through the crowd that his rival is offering food handouts at his rally and the spectators run off to get their free bags of rice — imported from China. In another scene, the candidate’s campaign team is busy handing out cash to the crowd, while Mekan himself shouts at young people “Money will destroy you!”

“In this movie, we laugh at us. It’s a critic of the foolishness of the politicians and of the people,” the director says. “We need to start asking ourselves what is wrong in our country and change it. Cinema is a tool for it.”

(Vanguard)

Click here to read the full Article