When Steve Ayorinde Discussed Nollywood With Cameron Bailey and Don Lobel in Canada
STEVE AYORINDE spoke to two of Canada's leading film festival programmers - Cameron Bailey of the Toronto International Film festival and Don Lobel of the Montreal Festival of New Cinema - on their impression of Nollywood. Lobel is the Associate Producer of The Canadian documentary NOLLYWOOD BABYLON about famous Nollywood director, Lancelot Imasuen, from the casting calls to the last shot.
With similar questions asked, their responses extol the video-film revolution and offer insights into how the industry can improve.
"Abeni" was in Toronto last year and none this year, why? Were you disappointed with our entry in 2006?
Tunde Kelani is a very articulate and charming spokesperson for Nigerian Cinema. His international reputation as a creative director on the strength of films like "Saworoide" (1998) "Thunderbolt" (2001), "Agogo Eewo" (2002) is well deserved. "Abeni" (2006) was not one of Kelani's better films but it foregrounded cultural issues (clash between traditional patriarchal values and the emergence of a new generation of self confident women) which were of interest to an international audience. This year only Ezra (Newton Aduaka) and "The Narrow Path" another one of Kelani's excellent films may have been appropriate choices for TIFF, but both had already been seen in Cannes and Fespaco.
Tunde Kelani.
Do you think Nigerian movies compete yet with other international films?
Nigerian video films are for the most part, dramas/melodramas, historical fables, or juju influenced Christian films made for a local audience whose tastes have been influenced mainly by Television soap operas. International film festivals are in the main concerned with the evolution of cinema as an art form. Aesthetic aspects are not at this point in the evolution of contemporary Nigerian Cinema very sophisticated, and the melodramatic genre has disappeared from art houses since the 50s. Thus it is not possible to compare Nigerian video films with their counterparts in other cultures. (The films of Tunde Kelani are an exception as they resemble the kinds of art films made in Senegal and Burkino Faso).
What is your view of Nigerian movies in terms of style, genre and narrative?
The Nigerian videofilm (Nollywood) is arguably the most significant populist movement in the history of film-making because of its scale and privately financed production. The style is generally made for TV drama, but there are aspects of improvised dialogue, the use of local settings and language, and taboo breaking elements in the stories which make these films fascinating. There are also a large number of excellent and charismatic actors who feature in these films, which is why even the most pedestrian stories are often entertaining. The most popular genres are love stories, Christian redemption films, comedies, epic (historical fables of village life). The stories reflect the social and cultural dynamics of modern life: the aspirations, fears and changing attitudes to love, sex and economic survival in a post colonial society with a crumbling economy.
What are your thoughts about Nigeria's preference for video and digital in a global film market?
The change from analog celluloid formats to video, and now to digital media is what has made the Nigerian video-film industry viable. It has allowed for the production of thousands of films each year, and has also given an amazing opportunity for producers, and directors to distribute films outside of corporately controlled cinema circuits which would have been economically impossible with any other format. Digital media changes the power equation between producers and consumers who now have the ability to tell and disseminate their own stories.
What do you look for in selecting films for your festival - Montreal festival of new cinema in Canada?
In general we look for films which are aesthetically challenging, and which explore or deal with important political and social issues.
Why did you take Genevieve Nnaji to the festival in 2005?
We decided to invite Genevieve to the Montreal Festival of New Cinema in 2005 because we thought she would be an excellent ambassador for the then unknown Nollywood phenomenon. Her glamorous presence generated more media attention then any other person or event that year and thus introduced Nollywood to North America. Several Nigerian films were shown at our festival: "Private Sin", "Emotional Crack", "Highway to the Grave", in conjunction with her appearance, and the presence of Onokoome Okomo the internationally known author of several books and articles about Nollywood.
What prompted your interest in the documentary on Nollywood and how did it go?
As I mentioned earlier, the Nigerian video phenomenon is of epic proportion and the first of its kind in the history of cinema. Nollywood films are unlike films produced in other African countries which are intended for viewing by the festival elite in Europe and North America. This is an African Cinema made by the people and for the people telling the African story as it is unfolding at ground level. The films are wildly entertaining and reveal aspects of the society and culture largely unknown to North American and European audiences. We hope that we have made the definitive film on Nollywood one that tells the story in all of its rich and intriguing historical, cultural and political aspects. Need I say more?
You rejected "Irapada" (Kunle Afolayan) for Montreal but it was taken for London, is there a difference in the European taste and Canadian taste of African cinema?
I can not generalise on the basis of one film whose aesthetic appeal escaped me.
How close is Nollywood to excelling at your festival and perhaps the OSCAR?
At this stage and until a Nollywood film is made which is aesthetically innovative as well as culturally relevant, Nollywood films will probably only be shown in major International film Festivals in the context of a spotlight on the phenomenon itself. Nigerian Films like "Ezra" and "The Narrow Path" are not properly speaking Nollywood films and are the kinds of films which can definitely appeal to Festival audiences.
What can Nollywood benefit from Canadian festivals like Toronto and Montreal?
Exposure of filmmakers. Producers, journalists etc to International Festivals may help raise the bar in terms of the quality of films needed to compete internationally and to the type of critical apparatus (media attention) and investment needed to spur this development.
Africiné.
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