As part of my research, I watched a number of Nollywood (Nigerian movie industry) films on Netflix last weekend in order to refine my memories of Nigeria. Last seminar I was asked if theres anything distinctive that reminds me of Nollywood films. My mind immediately went to loud intrusive sound effects and a very narrative theme song.
New Nigerian films have evolved, so there aren't much of these attributes anymore. My Top 3 films were First Lady, Up North and its her day. I will explain what I got from these films individually.
1. THE FIRST LADY
This film stars one of my favourite Nollywood Actresses called Omini Oboli. Her character (Michelle) has a very similar backstory with Flora my main character.
Omini is a very talented actress so I studied her movement. In the story, Michelle left her village to become a prostitute in the city to be able to send money to her parents . Her pimp (Obama) treated her like property, he would beat her and make her work tirelessly just to take the money from her. The surprising part to me is that she felt his actions were justified because he was helping her family survive.
While drawing up my character emotions and expressions I would take influences from Ominis acting in this film, her character always seemed trumped on but constantly hopeful. TRAILER
2. UP NORTH
This is my new favourite Nigerian film !
Ironically this movie is like a polar opposite from my short film. In this film a rebellious 32 year old man-child, leaves his fathers wealth and home in Lagos. He goes to a small town up north to serve as a youth corper for his NYSC . NYSC is a program mandatory for every Nigerian planning on working in Nigeria were you offer your services in a location miles from your home/university. The family of the man wanted him to serve his NYSC close to home, they could easily this with some phone calls. He refused so often it became an issue, he wanted to break the tight control and discover something new.
In this movie our main Character played by Banky W did a lot of exploration of the natural landscape of the small town (Bauchi) he was posted to. He explored, danced, made friends, fell in love and created a home. In this film his very wealthy father constantly tried to return him home.
His rich parents are exactly like Floras employers.
This movie was very emotional (I cried) , it really opened my eyes to the possible views in Nigeria and also Floras employers are influenced by the parents TRAILER
3. ITS HER DAY
This is a comedy by one of my favourite Nigerian comedians Called Bovi. In this film Bovi and his friends have no class. However Bovi gets very wealthy and is about to get married to a very elite Woman. The bride , her mum and her sister are very entitled and rude to everyone.
This movie revolves around a wedding, so that naturally means theres a lot of movement, planning and people. The main thing I got from this movie is how I want to portray the surrounding characters. Nigeria is a very busy place with a lot of different striking characters, a lot of chats and a lot quarrels. The movie did a good job in showing the different types of people in their habitats , however the movie is a comedy it has a lighter atmosphere than I want. TRAILER
CONCLUSION
Writing about these three films have made me realise that the main thing in common is a clear social class division. The difference between poor and rich is so visual and clear. Although there is unity in mannerism.
