Nollywood Takes Over Hollywood, Celebrates Feat

L-R: Ose Oyamendan (2nd L), Kemi Adetiba, and Banky W

(By Oluwagbemiga Asuelimen) - The Weekend Nollywood took over Hollywood

          When you live in Los Angeles, you often feel you have seen everything. You have most likely gone through an earthquake or two. You have seen men become women and women become men. You have seen stars rise and fall. You have eaten food you can not even pronounce. You have been on a roller coaster through life and, sometimes, you do not know what is real and what is make belief.

Last week, the city saw what it had not seen before, not in this light. Nigeria was in town.

“We’re gonna rock this town the way it’s not been rocked in a long time,” beamed Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan as he strolled in his Ankara shirt under the mild afternoon sun into a meeting with the big wigs at The Egyptian Theatre on Tuesday afternoon.

A few hours later, the online version of the prestigious Los Angeles Times spilled the beans on the unsuspecting city when it announced, “Watch Out Hollywood, Nollywood is coming to town”. This is the closest you get to a cultural coup. Nigeria, long bashed in the media for scandals, corruption and fraud, was getting a public rebranding, thanks to the Nollywood In Hollywood event.

          The headline lit up social media. Kemi Adetiba, the queen of Nigeria’s box office whose film, KING OF BOYS, was selected for screening posted a blurb of the newspaper headline on her Instagram page with a simple line, “Hey mommy… Hey daddy… Guess who just got featured in the @latimes”. Good news must travel fast. Within an hour, the news had been viewed or shared over a million times on social media. It would expand to over ten million in the next few days.

The Women Driving Nollywood in 2019

(By Daniel Okechukwu) - These Are the Women Pushing Nollywood to Greater Heights in 2019

From Mo Abudu to Ema Edosio, these women are transforming Nollywood for the better.

          Women have had a place in Nollywood since its inception, but that was mostly in front of the camera. Behind the scenes, things have historically been governed by men: they produce and direct the biggest films and generally dictate the market for Nigerian film.

          In 2019, the era of overwhelming male dominance is over, thanks to a new type of female mogul personified best by Mo Abudu. Since the release of her first film Fifty in in 2015 she has ruled the Nigerian box office. Three films she executive produced—The Wedding Party 1, The Wedding Party: Destination Dubai and Chief Daddy—sit atop the list of highest grossing Nigerian movies of all time. The original Wedding Party grossed ₦453 million, its sequel did ₦500 million, and her latest Chief Daddy made over ₦300 million in three weeks. 

          Four of the films produced by her film company EbonyLife are among the top 10 highest grossing Nollywood films. Mo Abudu's success has ushered in a new trend of women making boss moves in Africa's biggest film industry.

Nollywood Beyond Nollywood

Beyond Nollywood Green White Green; Photo Source: CNN.com

(By Nadia Denton) - There are some exciting content emerging from the Nigerian film space which is largely obscured from view because it does not fit the Nollywood model. The content on the periphery of Nollywood -- Beyond Nollywood as I have termed it is a growth area within the Nigerian film industry and in my opinion the most likely to cross over internationally.

The Beyond Nollywood weekender presents a motley collective of filmmakers who are creating work that subverts Nollywood both in content and style. Creatives who have interesting things to say about Nigerian culture that is frankly not out there and gives some indication of what is to come from this young industry.

Hooray for the Women of Nollywood

(By Tara Brady) - Making it in Nigerian film isn’t easy - just ask Tope Oshin Ogun [pictured] director, producer, actress, dialogue coach, casting director and mother of four boys.

Nollywood, as we are often told, is the third largest film industry in the world, placing just behind behind Hollywood in the US and Bollywood in India. The numbers are extraordinary; Nigeria produces an average of 50 movies each week and makes some $590 million each year.

Until her unexpected death in 2014, Amaka Igwe was one of the most authoritative figures in Nigeria’s cinematic landscape. Igwe, the writer, director and producer of such well-regarded films as Rattlesnake and Violated, helped transform Nollywood from a cheap and cheerful, amateurish, video- based sector into a professional industry, replete with its own film grammar, genres and pan-African audience.

7 Reasons African Female Directors Rock

(Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN)--African cinema is booming. The continent is awash with creative minds with a flair for storytelling who are bringing life to local stories and sharing them across the globe -- from gripping thrillers and intensely-emotional dramas to celebrations of musical heritage and biopics.

We spoke to seven great female directors from Africa to ask them what they love most about their work -- and why you should too.