Nollywood: The Emergence of the Nigerian Videofilm Industry and Its Representation of Nigerian Culture
| Uchenna Onuzulike |
| COPACE, Clark University |
| October, 2007 |
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Abstract
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The emergence of Nigeria’s film industry, which has evolved into video form, also known as videofilm is a vital cultural phenomenon. It is the third highest grossing film industry behind Hollywood in United States and Bollywood in India respectively. This research explores the concept that Nigerian movies are a representation of Nigerian culture and how Nigerian videofilmic practices illuminate religion, speech, and gender issues. It examines the reasons the Nigerian movie industry abandoned celluloid for videofilm and the conceptualization and adaptation of “Nollywood” as the name for the Nigerian movie industry.
This thesis employs the Speech Code Theory, drawing on Content Analysis for the methodology, and interviews for the data analysis. From the data gathered for this work, Videofilm Theory and an Aesthetic Model of Nollywood Videofilm were conceptualized. An analysis of Nigerian videofilms shows that they are an avenue by which Nigerian cultural heritage is expressed and also disseminated. |
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