If you asked most people to name the three biggest film industries in the world most would get Hollywood and Bollywood, but how many would be able to name Nollywood? This is surprising considering Nollywood is by volume the second largest film industry in the world behind Bollywood.
The Nollywood movie industry is very different to others around the world. Firstly, movies are not screened in cinemas, they go straight to video and are shown on street corners or video parlours. The street corners are a place where the general public can congregate and watch the films, though these are without the comforts of a cinema as they stand the entire time (Okome 2007). The video parlors are locations that groups can get together, which can be anything from a small room to a hall and the technology can be very limited (Okome 2007)
One complaint of these films is that they are of low quality, however this is due to the limited budget and time frame that filmmakers have to work with. They will often only have a very limited budget and will have to finish the film with in time frames as short as week. However the filmmakers will adopt new technology as soon as it is affordable, until then they make do with what they have (Khorana 2016)
While not hugely popular worldwide, Nollywood is wildly successful in Africa. Most of the movies cater to that audience by presenting themes that appeal to them, as well as audiences being happy to view films made by other Africans. Due to this, they are happy to forgo the fancy effects and top name actors as they would prefer the previous. It is a local industry that caters to their wants and they respond by steadfastly supporting it.
Sources
Okome, O 2007. Nollywood: Spectatorship, Audience and the Sites of Consumption
https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/nollywood-second-largest-film-industry
Meet ‘Nollywood’: The second largest movie industry in the world
Khorana, S 2016 – BCM111 Lecture Slides Week 4
Image – https://www.one.org/us/2015/06/15/first-hollywood-then-bollywood-now-nollywood/
Image – http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/insider/how-the-times-named-nollywood.html?_r=0
Hayden Skates 