So recently two features wrapped up shoot. The adaptation of Chimamanda Adichies “Half of a Yellow Sun” starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton and Dominic Cooper, and “Lions of 76” set in the backdrop of the Military coup,Directed by Izu Ojukwu starring Ramsey Noauh and Rita Dominic, which just came off a 77 day shoot in Ibadan. Did he just say 77 days shoot!!! of a wholly Naija filck!!.
Yes i did, for those farmiliar with production in Nollywood it’s undoubtedly an abnormal number of shoot days. The normal for a feature or to be more specific “Home Video” shoot, can be anything thing between 5-10 days sometimes even less.
Is this a new era in Nigerian film making? Are we seeing the beginning of one to three month shoots?
Are these one offs , or are things finally beginnig to change in the way films are made in Naija?
I for one certainly hope so. The rise of a new wave in Nigerian Cinema is around the corner, the old is showing it’s wrinkles and the new is strutting it’s baby fresh skin and i can only hope that the time taken to make this flicks will be a challenge to others out there.
Instead of a producer making 20 films in one year, each with a 5-10 day shoot, and dire quality and then lasts less than a month on the shelf, and sooner out of the memory, they can focus on 2 or 3 films, each given the care it deserves and have a film that can last in the cinema and later on DVD.
Yes, those films have huge budgets, that far exceed the average home video budget, by several light years, but if we come up with great source material, maybe investors will be more willing to write cheques when they see the cinematic possibilities.
When these flicks are released, we’ll find out what they have in store for us.
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