The artistic world of Nigeria (Naija) offers many possibilities for entertainment and relaxation. Even if the Nigerian film industry is an emerging industry, it has managed to become the second largest film industry globally in terms of the number of films produced annually.
In this way, the Nigerian film industry represents an attractive opportunity for potential film investments. Whether we are thinking of comedy, drama, soap opera, romance or action movies, the Nigerian film industry can exceed expectations.
While in the USA the film industry is known as Hollywood, in the case of Nigeria the film industry is Nollywood. In terms of film value and number of films produced annually, Nigeria’s film industry is the largest in Africa and can also be compared to Hollywood or Bollywood.
Brief history of Nollywood
Nigerian cinema emerged during the 1960s, but no worldwide success was recorded until the use of digital filming. However, the first Nigerian films were produced during the 1960s by Hubert Ogunde and Ola Balogun but at high costs. It seemed that the television industry was much more profitable compared to the film industry and until the 1980s, each state in Nigeria had its own television station.
Due to restrictions related to foreign television stations, local stage productions became more popular and in 1992 the release of “Living in Bondage” was the first Nollywood hit. This film opened the windows to a new successful industry in Nigeria and increased investment opportunities in this field of activity. Since then, approximately 250 million dollars a year are spent in the film industry.
Nollywood hit movies
After the success of the 1992 film “Living in Bondage”, thousands of Nigerian films began to be produced and released. The most important achievements in the Nigerian film industry are listed below:
. 1994: “Glamorous girls”;
. 1997: “Return to life”;
. 2003: The first international performance and success of Nollywood came in 2003 with the premiere of “Osufia in London”, starring the famous comedian Nkem Oweh; Apart from this movie, other successful movies were “Beyond Belief” and “Break Up”;
. 2005: “Behind Closed Doors”, “Girl” and “Bus Driver”;
. 2006: “30 Days” – received 10 nominations for the African Movies Academy Awards in 2008;
. 2007: “Ezra” – Grand Prize winner at the Ouagadougou Television Festival.
Famous Actors in Nigerian Movies
Like any other nation, Nigeria too has its own players to be proud of locally and internationally. Keeping this in mind, the most famous actors who acted in Nigerian movies are as follows:
. Nkem Oweh, comic actor, appeared in the first internationally successful Nigerian film “Osufia in London”;
. Van Vicker – Ghanaian actor – played in “Divine Love”;
. Majid Michel, a Ghanaian actor, starred in “Agony of the Christ,” which earned seven nominations at the 2009 African Academy of Film Awards;
. Ramsey Nouah – Nigerian actor – star in the soap opera called “Megafortunes” but also in the romantic movie “Lover-Boy”;
. Genevieve Nnaji, a Nigerian actress, acted in famous Nigerian movies like “30 Days” in 2006 and “Beautiful Soul” in 2008.
. Desmond Elliot – regular face in the Nigerian film industry starring in the hit movie “Behind Closed Doors” in 2005;
. Other famous Nigerian actors are: Jim Iyke, Baba Suwe, Oge Okoye, Hassanat Akinwande, Ini Edo.
All in all, Nollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world and it is growing at a fast rate. The future looks bright for the Nigerian film industry and competition is fierce in this field of activity.