Nollywood, Piracy, and Post-Colonialism

(By Jack Kyono) – At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, cinephiles and entertainment reporters are abuzz with excitement, the latter framing out the headlines of what has quickly become one of the premier events of the year for film screenings, celebrities, and industry gossip. Many of the top stories come from the usual stars: Chloë Grace Moretz shines in her new film, Brain on Fire; the success of the Rob Reiner-directed biopic, LBJ, affirms the rom-com icon’s successful transition to more serious material, and designer-turned-director Tom Ford unveils the first trailer for his stylish, sophomore feature, Nocturnal Animals.

Behind all the usual Hollywood headlines, however, lies a storyline unknown to the average American, but one that could mean a world of change for an entire continent. As part of the TIFF’s “City to City” program, highlighted are the films of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and the center of its prolific and controversial film industry, Nollywood.

Funding Nollywood, Ali Baba's Analysis

When I look at the growth of entertainment in Nigeria, I very often come to the sad realization that some of my colleagues DONT GET IT, CANT GET IT & WONT GET IT. I say this with the backing of what I have observed in the over 25 years that I have been in this industry. Though it's not the years you have been in the industry that counts. It's the years that you have made to count in the industry.

When I started performing as a stand up comedian in 1988, I did not know anything about the business of showbizness, I just wanted to perform and get paid. I was pleased with fame and the little allowances I got. I saw indications of prosperity and I decided to prove my dad wrong about choosing to be a stand up comedian (he wanted me to read law) and there were no precedent. It was a green field. It was a tough task, but thanks to the likes of Mohammed Danjuma, Yibo Koko, ALLAM Bloo, Tee-A... And many others, the rest is history.

Stand Up was new. The appreciation of it as an art form was either low or non existent. It was not even a sector of entertainment. The real sectors had stage actors, television actors, dancers, choreographers, singers, producers, slapstick comics, clowns, storytellers, radio/TV broadcasters... Etc. I tried to blend into the existing structures to find form, purpose and a launch pad. I even started appearing on radio and television shows to gain relevance.

Pirating Nollywood: AY Petitions Police IG Over '30 Days in Atlanta'

Dear Sir,

It is with the deepest sorrow that I pen these words. I have never understood the true meaning of the saying “only the one wearing the shoes feels the pain”, till recent times. Since the advent of Independent Producers, piracy has become the bane of the industry because as the saying goes ‘monkey de work, baboon de chop’.

The excitement that greeted the movie industry through the Box-Office success of 30 Days In Atlanta has quickly turned to sorrowful awe as I heard the news that the result of my sweat and sleepless nights has been sold by a traitorous miscreant, yet unknown, to a dubious marketer in Alaba.