Documenting Nollywood’s Distribution Challenges in Dr Añulika Agina’s Directed and Ojie Imoloane-Led Documentary, ‘Beyond My Nollywood Screen’

Nigerian film exhibitors and distributors have, for decades, been away from media attention. Their effort of making films accessible to Nigerians have largely gone undocumented. In correcting this, Dr Añulika Agina and Ojie Imoloane are hoping to change that with their documentary, Beyond My Nollywood Screen. With financial support from the European Research Council, the documentary takes an academic approach towards excavating and contextualising Nigeria’s decade-long distribution history. The documentary, available on ScreenWorlds, traces this long history by seamlessly blending the past, present and possible  future of Nigerian distribution into a single whole. 

Featuring interviews with Afolabi Adesanya, Joy Efe-Odiete, Moses Babatope and Wangi Mba-Uzokwu and reliant on archival materials and footage, the documentary presents a cohesive narrative for viewers. Beyond My Nollywood Screen also flashes light on film distribution challenges. Some of which aren’t limited to investment, operational challenges,  manpower and education of technical teams, internet connectivity and speed, piracy and lack of institutional and government support. In my interview with Dr Agina and Imoloane, we spoke about the nuances of Nollywood’s distribution issues and how lack of institutional and governmental support has stalled  industry growth. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The documentary reveals  historical details of the Nigerian film industry and by extension that of Nigeria. What valuable insight did you gain from interrogating this history and archive? What are the challenges in accessing and preserving our history and archive in a country where cultural knowledge is fast depleting? 

Ojie Imoloame : Thanks for asking this great question. What stood out for me was the conversation I had with Mr. Afolabi Adesanya who was General Manager of West African Pictures. During our conversation he mentioned pitching the idea for a community cinema to the West Africa Pictures management and was met with lukewarm response. Hearing that story made me reflect on the vision mindset of Nigerians. Over the years, that lack of vision and fear due to the absence of precedents makes it impossible to make progress. 

Also, the documentary’s approach shows where we are and coming from. It also contextualizes  the significance of having an IMAX in Nigeria within twenty years. This then-and-now approach stood out for me because it shows that, unmindful of the issues with Nollywood, for an industry pushed and championed by private individuals we have accelerated. 

 Dr Anulika Agina : The decision to interrogate the archive comes from a need to preserve our cultural heritage and memory. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, not many people subscribe to the idea of historical projects unless they are historians or work in the university. Also, there are not many funders of historical projects. For me, I decided to interrogate the archive and our history so as to be able to leave a better future for posterity. As a University lecturer, I can’t always start my lectures within the context of today without interrogating the past and challenging Westernalised history. 

Also, I wanted to decolonise the understanding of our history. Nollywood documentaries have been, for decades, approached from a heavily Western lens because it’s supposed to serve the European audience. This intent makes these documentary filmmakers  write and film in a derogatory and uncomplimentary manner and lens. Nigerians are hard working, dynamic and business driven. And, these are stories Western documentaries won’t tell and with my documentary, I wanted to correct that. I wanted to show that, although there are ills in Nigerian society, and we grapple with making films on tiny budgets, there are stories worth telling here. This intent guided the framing and selection of the people we interviewed. Also, we wanted to tell the stories of film exhibitors and distributors because focus has always been given to actors. 

An aside: In all this process, the archival material used in the documentary aren’t gotten from the Nigerian archive but a British one. The Nigerian bureaucracy made it impossible to access the Nigerian archive. However, what struck and moved me to tears is the willingness of the subjects to be interviewed despite logistic challenges.

Streaming platforms have come and ‘gone.’ As it relates to Nollywood, what do you make of this? 

Dr Agina: Conversations about our work ethics are very important. This is why, as an individual, I wasn’t surprised that Netflix left the market. We often compare Nigeria and South Africa without realising they are different countries with different industry structures. South African writers have, over the years, learnt the nuances of storytelling vastly different from what’s obtainable in Nigeria. There were a lot of speculations and rumours about why Netflix left Nigeria based on the business ethics of Nigerian filmmakers. One of them being that the Nigerian elite  filmmakers Netflix was in business with  weren’t transparent. As a cultural advocate, what hurts me about this is the negative cultural impression we must have left on their mind. Recently, a Nigerian delegation led by the Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Dr. Shaibu Husseini, visited Netflix’s corporate headquarters in Amsterdam with a publicly unknown intent. What this visitation was supposed to achieve or has achieved hasn’t been publicly stated. And, this is the kind of obscurity that surrounds Nigerian businesses, especially one involving the Nigerian government. As an individual, I don’t blame Netflix for what it’s done. However, I’m sad that we’ve left a very negative impression of our country. As an industry positing to telling authentic African stories, we have inadvertently told it in an unwholesome manner.

 Imoloame: As a corporate person, I look at these conversations differently. South Africa is Africa’s most industrialized nation. This means that South Africans approach business from a highly institutionalized manner. Equally, education in South Africa is great. What this also means is that South African talents are well trained and seasoned. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is worth over a trillion dollars while the Nigerian Stock Exchange is worth a little bit over $40 billion which is because South Africa has a more advanced corporate culture than we do. Intrinsically, if you do business in the South African economy, you are operating in the global ecosystem. 

Artists don’t lie. The artist’s work culture and ethics is influenced by his environment, and any story they produce is a function of their local environment. Ultimately, this means that the Nigerian entertainment industry isn’t a corporate one. Hitherto, it’s an industry that has been built on the back of passion, love and shared will and grit. As a person, I think the entertainment industry is a representation of who you are as people. Nigerians are creative and go-getters.  However, because of the peculiarities of the environment, unfortunately, our talents aren’t that global, making global competition hard. 

 Dr Anwuli Angina: To clarify, Ojie, can you specifically talk about the peculiarities of our environment? And how do these peculiarities affect the entire process of making films in Nollywood? 

 Imoloame: The entertainment industry was built on passion and working-with-what-I-have culture. When a filmmaker gets conditioned to make films on meagre budgets, they aren’t concerned about applying global best production practices because it’s expensive. Our production is reflective of the socioeconomic realities of Nigeria. The average Nollywood filmmaker keeps making films out of passion not because he’s well trained and equipped. Even if they are trained, who will fund his projects and employ his services? 

 Dr Agina: Numerically, South Africa is a fraction of Nigeria. And South African filmmakers and the film industry keeps thriving. In Nigeria, this makes me believe that we need to crack the code for distribution which appears to be the bane of the industry especially with Netflix exit. The unfair Nigerian economy we have established makes it impossible for average Nigerians to visit cinema and own multiple streaming platforms. In a 200 million people and counting country, how do we reach Nigerian audiences? 

Institutional negligence and lack of governmental support has constantly been one of the banes of the Nigerian film industry. What do you make of this? And what do you think has changed or has remained the same over the decades? 

 Dr Agina: I’m not a fan of the present and previous Nigerian governments for multidimensional reasons. When Nollywood started, the government repeatedly accused filmmakers of damaging the countries’ image. It was until Professor Jonathan Haynes and Professor Onookome Okome (Professor of African Literature and Cinema at the Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton; Guest Professor at Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany) started writing about Nollywood films from a cultural perspective that this attack reduced. The writing of these scholars also made the government start paying attention to the industry even if it wasn’t the type the industry needed as at then. 

There is always mention of a 1992 film policy. But, beyond cultural policies, how do they recognise filmmakers expressing themselves and making a living out of it. It was only when Nigerian filmmakers started gaining international recognition, that the Nigerian government started paying attention as can be seen with the recent Screen Nigeria Initiative. The Nigerian government hasn’t actively and steadily supported the film industry. 

  Imoloame: On entering the entertainment industry, I started doing research to know and uncover things about the Nigerian government and its relationship with the creative economy. It was just recently that the government created an independent Creative Economy Ministry after being modeled within the Ministry of the National Information and Orientation for years. It wasn’t until the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration that the Nigerian government acknowledged the presence of an entertainment industry in the country because it was making a significant contribution to  GDP. 

The Nigerian creative economy when compared to Egypt, South Africa and Kenya have no institutional and governmental support. These countries have strong cultural policies. Over the years, the governments of these countries have been able to bridge the gap for investments in their film, entertainment and cultural industries. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Telecommunication, Banking and Pension industry was kicked off and strengthened by a policy during Obasanjo’s administration. This precedent makes a strong case for the need for cultural policies which give clear-cut  rules of engagement.

The documentary was shot in 2021 but recently released. What has changed over those three years? 

Imoloame: From an  industrial perspective, those changes are yet to be seen. However, there are a couple of trends. One of which is the rise of epics and multi-genre films. Film documents where you are coming from and going to and that’s why I love entertainment. For me, I am grateful for the epics and multi-genre films because it is a reflection of our diversity rich culture. 

The second is the rise of Nigerian filmmakers cracking the international film festivals. If you told me 10 years ago that a Nigerian film would crack Sundance and win a technical award or even get to the Cannes Film Festival, I wouldn’t believe it. Another trend is the rise in the cultural impact of the African Magic Viewers Choice Awards(AMVCA). Years ago, Nigerians didn’t really care about it. But, in recent years, things have changed. When Breathe of Life won Best Picture, it impacted the Prime Video streaming numbers. Also, a lot of conversations have been happening around AMVCA-nominated films which in turn drive curiosity to watch films. 

Dr Agina: Professor Haynes described epics as cultural epics. What is it that distinguishes the epics in cinema and streaming platforms now from those produced in the 90s? Is it the grander scale? Is it the bigger budgets? Is it that they are more visually stunning? What we are seeing with the rise of cultural epics production suggest to me a following of Western dictates with the whole need to tell authentic African stories. I think it’s a safe way of gravitating towards a tried and tested storytelling formula judging from the commercial success of representing African culture and story. This also works because filmmakers have a diverse audience to serve.

Also, we have seen the circumspectual rise of comedy because Nigerian films have always been comical. But, now, we have an explosion. This is also a result of the socioeconomical and political realities of people. Nigerians want to escape their daily hardship through films. Another trend has been the explosion of streaming and streaming platforms. There is Netflix, Prime, Showmax. There has also been conversation about the need to have locally-owned streaming platforms. 

As filmmakers keep finding a sense of balance, what are your departing words? 

 Imoloame: The Nigerian film industry is as dynamic as the people within it. Coming from a corporate and consulting background, I have come to learn and accept that the Nollywood filmmakers like their peers in other entertainment industries are dynamic and filled with unpredictable situations. The entertainment industry, with constantly evolving conversations and rise of technology is continuously evolving and highly unpredictable. This unpredictability further makes our documentary important as it addresses and contextually analyses the peculiarities of the Nigerian film industry from a distributor and exhibitors’ point of view. Due to Nigeria’s socioeconomic realities, filmmakers are torn amongst YouTube, Prime, Netflix and cinema. The success of Love in Every Word is making more Nigerian producers consider opting for producing YouTube films. YouTube is the number one streaming platform in Africa. Ideally, when discussing the distribution of premium films on a global stage, YouTube doesn’t and shouldn’t come up. But, the uniqueness of the Nigerian and African market makes a case for YouTube. The income bracket of a lot of Nigerians makes it impossible for Nigerians to willfully visit the cinema and own multiple streaming platforms. This socioeconomic realities of Nigerians allows for an interesting conversation because in South Africa, Netflix keeps commissioning originals and second and third seasons of shows while that isn’t obtainable in the Nigerian market.  

Dr Agina: No one should rest on their laurels now believing the industry has cracked the code for either distribution, production or writing. The important thing is to keep asking these questions: where are we? Why are we here? Where do we need to go, and how should we get there?