Challenging the African Narrative in Film: A Study of Nigeria’s Nollywood

Abstract

The original aim of Nollywood as a film industry was to take full responsibility of the art form, art as an authentic source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating and indoctrinating the society. These positions have been vigorously articulated in the movies. However, many scholars have concentrated their critical attention on the themes and characterization of Nollywood movies but neglecting her narratives. This study, therefore examines the African film narrative using three Nollywood films as case study thereby justifying the discourse on the impoverished state of narratives in her productions. Against the background of Auteur’s film theory which holds that the director’s movie is a reflection of his personal creative vision, this paper uses a combination of literary, creative performance tools to examine this problem. Generalizing from these findings show that Nigerian film maker may be
constructing and developing the narratives rather hastily without the requisites dramaturgical scrutiny before exhibition thereby creating the wrong impression about Nollywood products. While this draws attention of film makers to their narratives; it’s hoped it will further inspire the Film Censorship Board to taking appropriate steps to improve the quality of films produced in Nigeria.