Exporting Nollywood: Nigerian Video Filmmaking in Europe

Abstract

When Kenneth Nnebue, a Nigerian electronics dealer, produced the film Living in Bondage in 1992, he probably had no idea of what its release would represent 20 years later. But today, among Africans of all nationalities, the title of this film is synonymous with the birth of the largest entertainment industry in Africa.’ The Nigerian video film industry, commonly referred to as Nollywood, is indeed considered to be one of the largest film industries in the world.2 The films produced there circulate all over Africa and throughout the African diaspora in Europe and elsewhere.3 To many, the emergence of the Nigerian video industry represents the most important event in the recent history of African media. The video industry has managed to develop autonomously without any support from the government. It created independent and informal systems of production, distribution, and exhibition, which enabled the production of low-budget films that were released straight to video and watched in most cases at home or in informal neighborhood screening venues.4