Don't View Nollywood with the Rose-Tinted Glasses of Hollywood

 

Don't View Nollywood with the Rose-Tinted Glasses of Hollywood

I have previewed a new Nigerian drama on the psychological consequences of rape in the life of a teenage girl sexually violated by a Roman Catholic priest at a convent in south- eastern Nigeria.
If you replace the leading roles with the famous Hollywood icons, Nicole Kidman and John Travolta and have the location in America, the crime thriller will be nominated in the next Oscars for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress in a leading role, because of the accomplishments of the cast and crew in the production of the movie. But many Nigerian and other African movies have been viewed with the rose-tinted glasses of the American film industry, popularly called, Hollywood and in most cases, viewed by White Americans who did not understand the nuances of the peculiarities of Black Africans in dialogues and mannerisms.

Are there racial biases in international film acquisition and distribution with the superiority complex of white curators who esteem white filmmakers highly in comparison to black African filmmakers without comprehensive analysis of the content and context of subject and without the broad-minded considerations for diversity and inclusion in the existential dramas of life on earth?
"Our films are good enough for you, but your movies are not good enough for us. "
Is Hollywood the global standard for the best storytelling on motion picture?
The Economist published a selection called, "The Best Films So Far in 2024" without any consideration for the best movies so far in Bollywood and Nollywood on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Showmax and other streaming platforms, cable TV networks and cinemas.

I have seen many crappy Hollywood movies repeatedly shown on M-NET Movies Channels without any consideration for the viewers who paid for the subscriptions.

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have paid over 200 percent more for the acquisitions of American and Korean films than what they paid for African films.
Showmax of the MultiChoice Group pays more for South African productions than Nigerian productions.
Are these differences in the valuations based on the quality of the movies or racial bias against black African filmmakers by Western standards? But the French are an exception to the stereotypical views of Africa by Hollywood, because the French have a better understanding of African Cinema than Hollywood and the British which can be seen in their broad-minded Official Selections of the annual Cannes Film Festival where several African filmmakers have won coveted awards, including the most coveted, the Palme d'Or.

Can a white curator of films understand the interpretations of the soundtracks of the Talking Drum in different scenarios of the scenes in the Yoruba political drama of "Saworoide", produced and directed by Tunde Kelani in 1999? 

Can the curator understand the soundtracks of the great Ikoro drum of Igbo people in a film adaptation of Chinua Achebe's all time classic novel, "Things Fall Apart"?

What of the different lighting techniques in Nollywood and Hollywood?

Do you know that the sunlight is brighter in Africa than in America?

The sunlight is the same everywhere on earth?

The colour of the moonlight is more romantic on Bonny Island in the Niger Delta than on Long Island in southeastern New York State.

There are different hues and shades of the colours of the rainbow and the narratives of the movies should be viewed in the different perspectives of the origins of the filmmakers to see the big picture of the different stories of life on motion picture.

"The Black Book", the 2023 Nigerian crime thriller of Editi Effiong, starring Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sam Dede, Shaffy Bello, Femi Branch, Alex Usifo, Ade Laoye and Ireti Doyle, released to Netflix on September 22 was the number one on the global rankings and "Òlòtūré", the 2019 Nigerian crime drama on human trafficking by Kenneth Gyang starring Sharon Ooja, Beverly Osu, Ada Ameh and Blossom Chukwujekwu was on the top rankings in several countries and were better than several American and Korean films in accomplishments in filmmaking, but Netflix paid less for the acquisition.

I have always insisted that a great movie is a great movie no matter the location or race of the filmmaker. The quality of the content should determine the price for the acquisition and not the location or race of the producer.

---- By -By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,.
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

Tems' Symbolic #OscarsSoWhite Costume at the 95th Oscars

 

Tems' Symbolic #OscarsSoWhite Costume at the 95th Oscars 

Tems, the co-writer of Rihanna’s Oscar-nominated song, “Lift Me Up” was the talk of the annual 95th Academy Awards held on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. Her spectacular white costume blocked the view of those sitting behind her. 

Of course, she and the designer deliberately wanted to raise eyebrows at the Oscars and make news headlines and they succeeded. The white Lever Couture gown “stole the show" and became the talk of Tinseltown from Hollywood to Nollywood of her own country, Nigeria. 

To me, Tems' awesome all white costume echoed the #OscarsSoWhite first tweeted in 2015 by activist April Reign in response to the 20 acting nominations for the Academy Awards all being granted to white actors. The hashtag raised the question of white racism of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and called for diversity and inclusion in the nominations for the Academy Awards. But as much as AMPAS has tried to end the dominance of Whites in the American nominees, we can see that the Oscars are still So White.

Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood Prefer Fair and Light Skinned Actresses

Hollywood Actresses.

If you have been bingewatching Nollywood movies, you would have seen that majority of the Actresses are competing to look like the actresses in Bollywood and Hollywood in makeup, hairstyles and haute couture on the red carpets. They want to be fair and light skinned and with wavy long hairs. They are the most influential models who have made a "staggering 77% of women in Nigeria to use skin-lightening products. The skincare and cosmetics industry is taking advantage of their craze for lighter skin according to a report by the United Nations published on https//www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2019-july-2019/paying-high-price-skin-bleaching

Many of the young women in Nollywood and the Nigerian society want to look as fair and pretty as the celebrated Nollywood actresses like Monalisa Chinda, Tonto Dikeh and Mercy Aigbe. And so they bleach the skin to boost their self-esteem and egos among their peers. 

Bollywood ActressesSara Ali Khan 

Scarlett Johansson

Emma Watson

The actors (both male and female) say there is a rule of thumb preference for fair and light skinned people in the entertainment industry for decades in Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood.

The controversial #OscarsSoWhite campaign years ago on the predominantly white nominees with the exclusion of filmmakers of colour made the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to come up with programs and rules to favour diversity in the film industry and campaign against racism. But colorism is in fact worse than racism, because "Colorism is the practice of favoring lighter skin over darker skin by people of the same race and tribe. The preference for lighter skin can be seen within any racial or ethnic background. Such as preference for  Asians and Africans of fair and light complexion in the film industry. You can see the preference in over 90 percent of the movies, TV series and music videos. 

Colourism is encouraging skin bleaching and the popularity of skin lightening creams, lotions and pills which the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning about the harmful side effects of dangerous consequences, including dermatitis (skin irritation), blue-black discolouration, skin cancer and even blindness.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series.

Fair and White So White Skin Perfector Serum 30ml - For Face, Elbows Knees, Feet - with Kojic Acid and Castor Oil

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A complete range of Lightening and Brightening Skin care products for modern young women of all complexions. 

A Good Filmmaker is A Good Storyteller

"You cannot be a good filmmaker if you are not a good storyteller."

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.

A good filmmaker is a good filmmaker regardless of the gender, race, tribe, class, religion and location. And every good filmmaker should be rated by the quality of the work whether in #Hollywood, #Bollywood or #Nolllywood .

 It is unacceptable to me to rate a filmmaker by the color, class or location in the world.

Every good black or African filmmaker should be rated and valued as every good white Caucasian or Asian filmmaker.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series

mehohome

The Birth of a Nation: The Rebirth of a Racist Nation

#KKK#racism #Bigotry#BlackLivesMatter @TIME @TheAcademy @AmericanFilm @BFI @Festival_Cannes @BarackObama @SamuelLJackson @Oprah @ava @badassboz

A Tarnished Silver Screen
How a #Racist Film Helped the Klu Klux Klan Grow for Generationshttps://t.co/Dr0NK14fTA pic.twitter.com/nkLnolNF7l

— 247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) March 25, 2021