A Lagos movie competition spotlights tales of Nigeria that the mainstream is lacking : NPR


An rising movie competition in Lagos, Nigeria, is making an attempt to alter the tales mainstream Nigerian movies inform.



AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Nigeria has a booming movie trade, however critics of Nollywood (ph) say its largest productions usually emphasize a glitzy model of Nigerian life. Now an rising movie competition within the metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria’s financial middle, is making an attempt to alter that. NPR’s Jewel Brilliant takes us to fulfill a number of the individuals behind this effort.

JEWEL BRIGHT, BYLINE: Just a few hundred cool children, principally younger impartial filmmakers and creatives, descended on a cultural middle in an prosperous a part of Lagos earlier this month. They’ve come to the S16 Movie Competition, an annual occasion that spotlights various brief movies.

FALANA: Brilliant and early, I welcome you all. Once more, my title is Falana, and I will be taking us via this program.

BRIGHT: Then they shuffle into the theater for the primary movie screening.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I believe from time, , I’ve type of recognized with the alte guys, ?

BRIGHT: The primary is a documentary movie titled “The Youngsters Are Alright,” on the alte scene in Nigeria, an alternate subculture that has achieved world attraction throughout Nigerian music and style.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I imply, alte is various, principally.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Different to the norm.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: I imply, alte is what you need it to be, man.

BRIGHT: It celebrates the creativity and resilience of younger Nigerians and spots gentle a number of the immense challenges they face…

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Open the door. Open up. Open up (ph)…

BRIGHT: …And displays on the Finish SARS demonstrations towards police brutality that swept via the nation in 2020 however ended when Nigerian safety forces opened fireplace at tons of of protesters. A minimum of 12 individuals had been killed.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) What do we would like (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Solutions (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) What do we would like (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Solutions (ph).

BRIGHT: The environment within the theater is tense and generally emotional, as individuals relive the traumatic occasions from the protest.

ABBA MAKAMA: I am very susceptible after I’m making movies, and I am not afraid to be deeply trustworthy.

BRIGHT: Abba Makama is the producer of the movie. He says in contrast to standard Nollywood movies, he needs to deal with points that present missed realities of life in Nigeria.

MAKAMA: There’s lack of nuance in Nollywood movies. It’s totally generic. It is vitally, very, very generic. And that is individuals simply being afraid to indicate the fact of who they’re, ?

BRIGHT: Abba’s views are shared by Mike Omonua, one of many organizers of the S16 Movie Competition. He says Nollywood wants extra various content material.

MIKE OMONUA: One of many key conventions of Nollywood is melodrama, proper? So it is as much as us now to push the Nigerian ecosystem in a unique course so it is multifaceted, it is multidimensional.

BRIGHT: However this isn’t a straightforward activity, says Tomide Gbamiboye, a 26-year-old younger filmmaker who’s making an attempt to just do that.

TOMIDE GBAMIBOYE: Sadly, we do not get the assist that we’d like. There’s so many nice and ridiculously proficient filmmakers that aren’t getting the monetary assist or simply, like, the mentorship they should make it huge as a filmmaker in Nigeria.

BRIGHT: However she says at the least festivals like S16 are begin for her to seek out like-minded creators who’re pursuing the identical purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Laughter).

BRIGHT: Because the movie “The Youngsters Are Alright” ends, the somberness of the theater is changed by cheers and laughter.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: The one method is up.

(CHEERING)

BRIGHT: For many individuals right here, this occasion reveals that there is a rising attraction for tales that present the complete vary of Nigerian life. Jewel Brilliant, NPR Information, Lagos.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EMPTY HOUSES”)

STRAIGHT WHITE TEETH: (Singing) The sunshine is falling with the waves like a grudge to bear.

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