My Life In Nollywood: Ola Cardoso

Every week, The Culture Custodian grants you an all-access backstage pass into the lives of Nollywood rock stars. You get to learn about their fascinating backgrounds, the behind-the-scenes stories, and more. This episode features cinematographer and filmmaker, Ola Cardoso.

Ola Cardoso is a man of excellence. Many minutes into our conversation, his professional values are exposed. He stresses the essence of creating meaningful bonds as a production team with a stable crew. He is selective with projects, and, when he is not spearheading the lighting department himself, often handpicks his gaffers. So, it is no wonder that his works showcase a masterful, proportional blend of lighting and different angled shots. In 2020, he won the Best Lighting Designer category of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) and received a nomination in the Best Cinematography category for his work on God Calling. Earlier this year, he received his second Best Cinematography nomination for his work as Director of Photography on the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime Video Original faith-based film Breath of Life.

Cardoso started out as a music producer and sound and mix engineer before venturing into cinematography. Since then, he has become one of the sought-after professionals in contemporary Nigerian film and television. Proving to be stickler for realism and simplicity, he has frequently collaborated with BB Sasore, the CEO of Nemsia Studios (Before 30, God Calling, Banana Island Ghost, Breath of Life), and has worked on other Nollywood projects such as Makate Must Sell (2019), Journey of An African Colony: The Making of Nigeria (2019), The Blood Covenant (2022), Slum King (2023) and The Other Side of the Bridge (2024) which debuted at the 2024 edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).

This conversation with Ola Cardoso has been edited for clarity.

Let’s start from scratch. Tell us how you began your adventure in Nollywood as a cinematographer.

Growing up, I used to be a sound engineer, and started in the entertainment industry as a musician. At some point, I decided to be a producer because we couldn’t afford one. That journey took me down to Monster Music between 2008 and 2010, where I met Leke Oyenuga who would often take me out with him to shoot TV content. I was enjoying it, and soon started getting music video jobs that I directed. All of a sudden, in 2014, I got a gig as a second camera on the TV series, Before 30. While doing that, the filmmakers discovered I was good in a way and called me for their next project, Banana Island Ghost. People applauded me for my work on Banana Island Ghost, and that was how I started getting more gigs.

Could you walk me through your educational background, which may include trainings you acquired in your filmmaking career in Nollywood?

I had my primary and secondary education in Surulere where I grew up, after which I focused on music production. I attended Multimedia Training Institute (MTI), Surulere around 2008 or 2009 where I studied mixing and mastering. For filmmaking, I have been investing in myself, taking online masterclasses with a lot of DOPs.

You said you grew up in Surulere, which is a rural neighborhood in Lagos. What other memories do you have from those formative years?

Most of my friends in the neighborhood were DJs and they often clashed due to the competition. What I did differently was to start making beats and jingles for them instead. That experience taught me how to think outside the box, and you see this in my work today.

How much parental support did you get in pursuing your creative interests?

My mum has always been my backbone. She’s been out of Nigeria since twenty years ago, but always supported me back then with tools like laptops. But when I started visuals, she didn’t really understand how it worked but has continued to remain supportive.

What makes you stand out as a cinematographer?

It is my approach to films—simplicity. For instance, I can have the option of different lights and still rely on just one or two.

In some of your works, there are noticeable patterns. For instance, Banana Island Ghost, God Calling and Breath Of Life have impressive lighting design with visuals that reflect their common angelic and spiritual aura. This makes me wonder about the techniques you specifically use to tell a story as a Director of Photography. Can you enlighten me on that?

Those films you mentioned are from the same director. There’s God in Banana Island Ghost. In God Calling, there’s someone talking to God. In Breath of Life, there’s someone trying to talk to God. All of these are mostly faith-based. Like I said earlier, I love simplicity. But technically speaking, it’s hard to achieve. At the end of the day, it’s all about following a script, which is the screenplay, and portraying the feeling. So, for me, I approach work the way it comes.

Do you have any specific on-site experience that exemplifies your filmmaking style of simplicity?

Yesterday, I had a rescue job where I had to come in because the DOP couldn’t make it. I was working with a gaffer and we were talking about lighting a particular area in the slums where there was no power. It’s a scene involving a woman who wants to put on a lantern in her room. The gaffer wanted strong moon lights coming into her room, but I disagreed with him. If there were such lights coming into the woman’s room, would she need to put on the lantern? You see, in these jobs, some people are all about what looks good on screen instead of portraying the story to be as realistic as possible.

How would you describe your relationships with Nemsia Studios and BB Sasore?

It started with my work as a second camera on Before 30, which is BB’s directorial debut here in Nigeria. At first, I was just on the sides and wasn’t BB’s interest. Someone else was supposed to be the second camera guy. I was with my boss, AK1 alias Akinola Bakare, who planned Before 30 together with BB. Fortunately for me, the camera guy couldn’t make it to the set and I had to replace him. I didn’t have to sell myself to Nemsia, but after that production, I was called to shoot other projects for them. Since then, BB has been like a friend and brother to me that I can call on at any time. We have similar interests in that we both love swimming and play basketball. He isn’t as religious as his faith-based films might make him seem.

Can you briefly speak about the kinds of cameras you use to achieve the quality of work you have?

We shot Before 30 on Black Magic 2.5K, God Calling and Banana Island Ghost on RED, and Breath of Life on a Black Magic camera possibly worth 6000 dollars. People thought I shot Breath of Life on an 100,000-dollar Arri camera because of its similar visual quality. This tells you that with cameras, it’s not about the pictures you get but the looks. As a filmmaker, your work should look like proper film, and not be as glossy as a music video.

Earlier on, you highlighted an experience of yours with a gaffer. Do you have a template or strategy for approaching creative differences involving the director or any other crew member?

As a cinematographer, I try to know what’s in the mind of whoever I’m working with as regards the project. For directors, we have conversations about the vision of the project and I also share mine too, so by the time we get on set there are no issues. With producers, I really don’t have a problem as far as I am employed and paid to do it. I am more concerned about delivering quality than quantity, so I don’t like to take on so-called small jobs.

Can you speak about the challenges that cinematographers like yourself face in the industry?

Generally, we battle with insufficient time for filming. I have an experience where I shot a film where we did each fight sequence overnight. We had earlier planned that every fight sequence would be one day or night at a time. On that particular day, we were supposed to shoot the fight sequences of one of our biggest actors. He had about three which we were expected to finish in a day. That was a challenge. As at 4pm, we had not started filming. After much creative deliberation, we decided to make the first sequence a major fight, the second a knockout phase, and the third one a minimal fight. Looking back, it feels like we were very intentional and had it all planned out. This is one of the reasons why shooting with two cameras is magical. If we had just a camera, we wouldn’t have been able to do the entire coverage and finish those scenes within that short period of time. Above all, challenges are there to make you think.

You own a production company, Film Bank. Can you talk about what inspired you to do so and the range of services your company offers?

I used to run Cardoso Imagery from 2013 until 2021 when I got tired of naming the company after me and changed to Film Bank. At Film Bank, we are filmmakers who specialize in all aspects of filmmaking, including editing, special effects and so on. We are majorly focused on films and documentaries.

At the latest edition of the African Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), you received a nomination in the Best Cinematography category for your work on Breath of Life. How did that moment make you feel? What further impact has it had on your career?

When I received the nomination, I felt indifferent probably because I anticipated it. It was my second nomination in the same category, after God Calling. In terms of impact, a lot of people at home and from other countries like Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa have been reaching out, hoping to work with me.

On your Instagram, you recently shared a trailer of your work, Time of the Month, which is an awareness on women’s health and menstruation. It drew my attention and I visited YouTube where I discovered it’s a fusion of music and short film storytelling. Can you describe the creative process for that concept?

I was the DOP, not the director. I got the brief from JJC, a young man, who sent me the script and explained the concept to me. Because it’s a commercial we wanted it to look bright. In the first scene, involving the young Hausa girl playing with her friends on a bright day, I had to make the day seem darker when something was coming out of her to give the feeling that all’s not well. The same thing also applies to the scene involving the Igbo husband and Yoruba wife.

Do you have any role models as a cinematographer?

Yes, I have two. One is Shane Hurlbut, an American cinematographer responsible for films like Fathers and Daughters, Acts of Salvation and Terminator Salvation. The second is British cinematographer Roger Deakins.

Are there plans to strike international collaborations with other film industries outside African cinema?

I think I’m already partly in Hollywood because we had Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studio on Breath of Life. But I still hope to get involved in Hollywood properly even though I don’t know how yet.

When you are not working on set, what activities do you engage your day with?

I have a daily routine which includes exercise for two to three hours every morning. Then, I do research if there’s a need for any. From around 4pm, I watch films.

Are you currently on any Nollywood project you would like to talk about?

I am shooting a project in January, an action film. We started pre-production two months ago. I am also working on my directorial debut. It’s a story about a boy who finds himself in a gang mess after his father, a boxer, gets killed by the gang for winning the fight to please his son.