When Holly met Nolly

Recently there has been an influx of African American and Diaspora based Nigerian actors to Nollywood for collaborations. Ok, maybe not an influx, actually more like a treacle, yeah, that’s it, a treacle of Hollywood actors.

From Hakeem Kae Hazim (24,Season 8),Kimberley Elise(Set it off,Dairy of a Mad Black Woman),Isaiah Washington(Grey’s Anatomy,Romeo Must Die) and the currently shooting adaptation of “Half of a Yellow Sun”,starring Chiwetel Ejiofor(Inside Man,Redbelt),Thandie Newton(For Coloured Girls) and Dominic Cooper(The Devil’s Double). The casting(of Newton) which set off a fire storm on the net when announced, but that’s a topic already covered.

Hazim was in Jeta Amata’s Black Gold(now Black November) and in Obi Emenloye’s sophomore outing “Last Flight to Abuja”. Kimberley Elise in “Ties that Bind” and Isaiah Washington in “Dr Bello”.

What brought them to Nigeria? Is this the beginning of new things? Is there finally a Hollywood/Nollywood collaboration? Or is there something else at play?

There are mixed opinions within the industry. Some are against it. Some are apathetic. Some are excited and see it as just a catalyst for bigger and better things.

A few people see it as naïve to believe that anything good is going to come out of this. Their opinion is that, the Western imperialists are doing what they’ve always done. Come to Africa , take advantage of our resources and leave us with the short end of the stick. Kinda like our oil situation.

Some see it as “has-been” American actors coming to Nigeria cos they can’t get work at home. Hence, they need us more than we need them..or in fact, We don’t need them at all.Howz that for National Pride, ey!

While each opinion deserves it’s fair share of consideration, each person has a reason for having such a perspective. Me!! Until proven otherwise I choose to drink the glass of water while the optimist and pessimist are still arguing.

Here is the kaleidescope I’m looking through:

1) With these collaborations, some of our actors who need to step up their game will be forced to for three reasons.

i) When they work with classically trained western counterparts, those less talented ones would see where they really are skill wise outside their protective circle of psycophants.

When they attend an audition and can’t pull off a monologue,and are promptly sent off, they’d see it’s not about being pretty and yelling about a cheating boyfriend or “you slapped me,Chidera you slapped me!!”.

Let’s face it , there are loads of people on screen calling themselves actors, with a gazzilion fans, that wouldn’t pass an audition for a high school play anywhere else in the world.

ii)Those that actually do have talent will still learn something,from the western counterparts. Who would have worked in more genres, diverse roles, and on action, high concept and epic films whose catering budgets could bank roll our persons last 30 home vids all their sequels, with enough change left to shoot 5 seasons of Tales by Moonlight.

iii) Working on a film that is shot within 60 days and one shot in 3 days have different discipline and approach. The actors will see the work ethic, expected performance and manner of shooting is different. So true ability will be seen, and much can be learned.

There will sifting of the chaff from the wheat and those with great looks, little talent and a lot of ego, could possibly reasses their perception of their ability when they can’t pass auditions or have to do 20 takes till the director is satisfied, when for years they’ve been used to just one “abeg make we do am comot” take.

2) When such collaborations reach the Cinemas in the west, those not usually exposed to Nollywood, could see the performance of certain actors and seek them out for jobs either there or when they have projects on the continent.

On twitter, Isaiah Washington raved about working with Genevieve ,stating something like “she’s the most professional actress I’ve ever worked with”, I forget the exact wording. (Na true or na wash na him sabi).

You never know who he shares an agent with, who that agent goes to lunch with or plays golf in the same club. Which producer/director will see one of our actor’s performance in a Holly/Nolly film ,and say “I want him/her in my next film”.; or that Kimberly Elsie won’t suggest to frequent collaborator, Tyler Perry,

“Hey I met this Nigerian actress on a film we did together,she’s brilliant, get her for the African role instead of getting an American to force a stereotyical accent”

6 Degrees of Seperation people!!!!

Loads of British Born Africans, are making it Stateside,playing all sort of roles. Idris Elba,David Oyelowo,Nonso Anozie ,Sophie Okonedo etc . With the right dialect/Accent coaches who says talented Naija actors can’t do the same?

3) If these films go on to be successful in the box office in North America and Europe,Hollywood studios could realize the market here ,see the investment possibility of funding films in Nigeria and setting up studios here.

MTV,TRACE and BET have come for music, so why not Columbia,Universal,Paramount,Disney etc for movies! Which can eventually inspire indigenous-ly set up studios.

Fox Searchlight, which is 20th Century Fox’s indie arm, already did that with Bollywood, “My name is Khan” being one of their co productions and It was a very good film. Why not in Nigeria? Who says it can’t happen?

4)Exposure to a broader more diverse global market and opening of possibilities for Nu Generation of Nigerian Directors. Those that are coming up and don’t have the ear of Alaba funders, nor the desire for such. There are a lot of talented young directors out there as evident in excellent shorts they’ve made, but no outlet.

Now, don’t get it twisted.

I’m NOT saying we absolutely need them to thrive and won’t without them.

I’m NOT saying that they are our only way out of the vicious cycle we all complain about.

I’m NOT saying that Hollywood is some sort of guardian or saving Angel.Far from it, they have their own many issues.

There are loads of Nollywood producers and directors who are doing well enough to reject any such offer,spit on it with disgust and tell oyibo where they can shove their collaboration. That’s cool. Elijah Mohammed would be proud.

For those open though,I’m just saying it’s an option worth exploring. Afterall ,we can’t keep doing exactly the same thing and then moan we aren’t getting better results.

If you have to get across the river , and a man in a speed boat offers u a ride as opposed to the canoe filled with holes and a drunk paddler you have, will u say “NO!!, I don’t want your help you decadent imperialist”. Ok, some of you might, but It all depends on the deal you make for yourself.

Several European film makers, got invited to Hollywood after making successful films(critically&commercially) at home.

The Swedish Director of “Let the Right one in” next directed “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”.

The German Director of Oscar winner “The Lives of others” next directed “The Tourist”.

Bringing it back to “the motherland “, South African Gavin Hood, who won an Oscar for Tsotsi, went on to direct X-Men:Wolverine Origins

Ok, so some of their Hollywood debuts paled in comparison to the films that got them noticed. I’m sure due to interference by suits, constant notes/memos and little creative freedom. But the point is, They Got Noticed !!!! They got the chance to work with much bigger budgets, reaching a much wider audience. And with time will get that creative freedom or at least more wiggle room like Nolan went from Momento to Inception.

Who says that can’t happen for a Naija director? Who says a Naija based director with a brilliant feature can’t be handed a project like those?

Film collaborations between two countries is not a new thing. Britain and France have done it for years (Pathe and Working Title). The British and the Americans do it a lot. The Americans shoot A LOT of TV and film scripted in the US in Canada, hiring Canadian cast and crew, and thereby putting money in the economies of the cities they shoot in. Canadian actors get work,Canadian hotels and restaurants get business. Many of those Canadians became big stars in Hollywood Ryan Reynolds,Jim Carrey,Mike Myers etc While it may not work like this for “ethnic and exotic” actors. When you see people like Djimon Hounsou and others,you know it’s not impossible.

One of the belly aches about it is the financing. Whose pocket does the money go back into? Does it stay in the industry? Is it going back abroad?

Well, I guess he who drops the money gets the profit. If we financially co produce I guess that cuts a different deal giving equal say in profit sharing.

But in that naysayers argument or logic. They forget that a lot of crew and supporting characters will be Nigerian,as is happening currently in the “Half of a Yellow Sun” shoot. Now, I don’t know about the DP and above line crew members, but as we show we are as competent as them, they’d realize it makes more financial sense to hire indigenous DP,AD,2nd Unit Directors etc who can do the job just as good. Fing Fang Foom,Hey Presto!!!, Jobs for awon boys. (In absence of politicking,neo colonialism and tribalism)

It may be a phase,it may indeed be an imperialist move. They may not be coming here out of the goodness of their hearts,(after all,it’s called Show BUSINESS not “Save the Nigerians”).

Yes Hollywood is cut throat and a lot of the time is only out for the bottom line, but isn’t that the same thing here we “artists” moan about.

So for the time being,I’m gonna chose to be naïve as some call it, and focus on the hypothetical possibilities it could bring to the industry, for talented upcoming film makers and actors.

Cinephile Rant:What’s an African Story??

Im a Cinephile, phewwww, there , i said it.  i LOVE movies, there are few other things i love more than a great movie. In addition to that i’m a film maker myself , so talking shop about movies  the  movies i’d love to make,the one’s i wish i had made and the directors i admire is one of my favorite past times and something i often find myself doing when i get with fellow cinephiles.

When i express the desire to make certain genre specific films ,  with  stylized dialogue, pop culture references, every once in a while i’ll get some Afrocentric Malcom X  type that says ”As an African, you need to tell ‘African’ stories, tell “our stories/culture”. This has increasingly begun to get me peeved.Why!! Because it presupposes that there is something specific that is an African story.

What exactly is an African story, and why should i be restricted to this? Should creativity or artistic expression be limited to your genetic code, culture or geographical settings? Is an Artist born in France only limited to drawing the Eiffel Tower, Croissants,Stripped shirts and Marie Antoinette. Is a German writer bound to only write about WW2, German engineering, and skinheads????.

It reminds me of a time a friend was mad at MTV Base when it first came out. Mad at their assumption that because we were African we only listened to Hip Hop and R&B ,and therefore they never showed any Rock or Alternative music.Should creativity be limited only to what one has experienced or sees around them?

If George Lucas had stuck to this “your culture” babble he would never have created the Star Wars franchise, there would be no Superman, Lord of the Rings, He Man, Robocop or any story beyond human experience

So what is the definition of an African Story?
Is it one set in Africa?
Is it one that tells of a historic event or historical figures?
Is it something that puts African traditions and culture on display?
Is it one that involves out fore fathers , mythology and superstitions?

Is it one from South Africa ,Kenya , Nigeria or Sudan. If there is an African Story is there also a European story, that British,French,Italian, Russian film makers have in mind and should tell?

Is the African story that which Hollywood has portrayed in films like Amistad, The God’s must be Crazy , I dream of Africa. Those films that give westerners the idea that we all run around in loin cloth chasing wild animals and retreating to out huts.  Or is it those War child,Famine,poverty, martyr boring ‘African’ movies that win at festivals but you wouldn’t want to watch at the cinema even if they gave you a free ticket , pop corn and a massage.

I suppose Native American film makers should only make films about Tepees, Totem poles,Peace pipes, performing rain dances and being chased by cowboys.

When you talk with some people about making a film.You get excited , cos it’s inspired by a classic, it has stylized dialogue, great sequences and enough pop culture references to blow QT’s and Kevin Smith’s collective load.  They start to push , an African Story agenda on you. “That’s not African,you have to make an African Movie”. You have to make something bus drivers, area boys and people in the village can enjoy. By the time they are done, they have watered down every creative juice from your idea and it is a bland,dull semblance of it’s former self. An emaciated version which you’d cross the street to avoid.

But let’s really take a look at this from a Global point of view. Tarantino has Italian roots, Guillermo Del Toro has Hispanic roots,Hitchcock was British and Truffat was French, all great directors from diverse cultures.But you never see any of them , making films that say “hey , look at me, this is my culture.And i hardly think when picking projects , any of them thought, “Hmmmm. Let me tell them, my Italian,Hispanic,British or French story”. Nor do the fans, go to the cinema thinking,”i want to see a European story”.

I, like many others grew up reading books by foreign authors like Enid Blyton, Roahld Dahl, Judy Blume ,Alan Ahlberg,Dr Seuss etc Not for a second did i read the back of the book and say ,”Huh, that’s a good British/Swedish story, let me read it”. The one and only thing that drew me were the characters,the story, the plot and the reading pleasure i perceived I’d get from reading them.

Also as a cinephile i love a wide range of movies. From the works of Frank Capra to Hitchcock to Woody Allen to Guy Ritchie etc . They make great movies, which you can enjoy regardless how different your culture is from theirs. It never feels like you are being schooled on their culture. The engaging story with interesting characters is what grabs the viewers attention, and if we learn something new about another culture , that’s great.

Now, there are specific films that are like constant exposition of a certain culture, which still manage to be entertaining . Usually stories involving ; Culture clash, e.g An Indian girl growing up in England wants to play football much to her parents chagrin . A wedding eg A Greek Girl marries outside her culture and the groom learns how bizarre their traditions could be.  Fish out of Water stories do this quite well.

If say, someone chose to adapt Chimanda Adiche’s book ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ for the big screen, THAT would be a good telling of the Biafran Story, not only will it cover a significant aspect of history, but many traditions and cultures of the characters involved. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was a brilliant African story, the key word being STORY. It was a human story that happened to be set in Africa, and that is why it did so well. The events could have happened half away across the world ,granted a few changes here and there,but it was the human story, and not the African story that captured our attention.

Like in mythology, it’s the construction of the stories and the characters that capture us, and not necessarily their geographical location. For example, Shongo is a mythological god of thunder in Nigeria, but all the way over in Scandinavia , they have Thor, in Greece it’s Zeus in Roman mythology it’s Jupiter. Some could surmise that it’s all the same character seen from different cultural perspectives. Now, their geographical locations will affect the cultures they come from, and there is where the culture is put on display.

For example,if we properly wanted to tell a story “our story” distinct from a Western story, with elements of our culture;let’s take a coming of age story, with characters , say 12 years old boys.

They skip  going to after summer tutorials(lesson) to instead go shoot at lizards with catapults, throw sticks at fruit trees in a crazy neighbors house, and get chased, a general day of adventure and exploration.They are pre teen boys morphing into adolescence and developing new interests, and we see how it affects their friendship, as some mature faster than others. Wrap all those element around the story of one of the boys dealing with his father’s conflict with the extended family over his turning down of a Chieftancy title that could make them all rich because of it’s clash with his “western” religious beliefs, BOOM, there’s a story.

And things along those lines.
 

Many “African” films that manage to make it to film festivals , are , stating it bluntly, DULL . They may have great cinematography and performances,but ‎are more effective as Valium than entertainment, and won’t be flying off DVD rental shelves anytime soon. And personally, even the African American films,with themes that shout  “i am black, hear me roar”.”We are black here’s how we are oppressed”. Let’s put sentiment aside,i find them exhausting,a bit depressing and have no desire to watch them.

If instead of setting out to tell a good story, you want to force feed er sorry, i mean educate people on  “this is my culture check us out” , you might as well go and make documentaries for National Geographic or The History Channel.

Now don’t get it twisted, there are stories that need to be told. Historical events, both from the immediate past and from yesteryear. Figures in our nation that need biopics made about them. Dark stories of keeping traditions  that need to be brought to light so they are eradicated,  it’s not all about escapology. But, that all depends on the interest of the story teller. Directing is often equated to getting married, If one is not totally passionate about it, there is no point. There is a reason Michael Bay makes different type of movies from Michael Moore, or Kevin Smith from Paul Greengrass.

So i am not totally opposed to telling stories that inform both the world and upcoming generations ,who we are and where we are coming from. But back to the case at hand

We need to  tell a great human story that captures the emotion,and imagination. Whether it be to make one laugh, cry, shout or sit down and reflect, should be the most important agenda. Tell an engaging story with fascinating characters FIRST and then, the location,nuances, idiosyncrasies, slang and speech patterns and world view of your characters will represent their culture, THEN you have your African Story. KAPISH.