Market forces and filmmakers: building a national image through production quality

Abstract

The Nigerian Video Film Industry popularly known as Nollywood in the recent past has come under harsh criticism centred basically on modes of production, quality, and professionalism. This has affected our storytelling abilities and restricted them to occult, witchcraft and other stories that have to do with these vices thereby creating a wrong impression on the country’s image. These criticisms have however arisen as a result of the fact that directors of these films who are supposed to be the storytellers are faced with the commercial approach employed in such productions and most times do not have a say in what kind of production is churned out but must bow to market forces as dictated by the marketers. In what may seem a quick response to these negative reports, there has been a revolution in the industry with what is now termed as cinema ‘movies’ which have now turned out to be the viewers’ delight, a perfect example of which is the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). Film directors who have found themselves in this area are known to take their time in giving attention to details from pre-production to post-production, no matter how long it takes and then let their movies tour cinemas around the globe before they let it into the market. A comparative analysis of Kunle Afolayan’s The Figurine (2009) and Mac-Collins Chidebe’s He Lives in Me (2004) will be used to advance the need for attention to details in productions as a means of checking the quality of film productions, which will in turn help to launder the Nigerian image in terms of film production quality.