NOLLYWOOD MIRROR : The Celebration of The Legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe in Nollywood and African Cinema

The name of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, MFR; will be written in gold in the history of Nollywood and African Cinema. 

I made the 2013 edition of the annual Africa Movie Academy Awards, (AMAA) the cover story of the first edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series to celebrate the unprecedented legacy of her visionary leadership in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry. 

 

The first edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series documented the phenomenal first indie film industry in Africa producing thousands of home videos telling stories of Nigerians from the past to the present that caught the attention of the rest of the world to say WOW! African magic! That made Ivorian rebels in the bush to stop fighting during their civil war when a shipment of Nollywood DVDs arrived from Lagos. That Zambian mothers said their children were now talking with accents copied from Nollywood movies. That when a President of Sierra Leone asked Genevieve Nnaji to join him on the campaign trail he attracted record crowds at rallies, because of her. 

Yes, Nollywood is our African magic that hooked the world. 

The maiden edition of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® SERIES is a celebration of the best of Nollywood with a full coverage of AMAA of 2013 with the theme, AFRICA ONE that epitomized the pan African Spirit of African Cinema. 

The following feature on the 20 years of the naming of "Nollywood" is dedicated to the legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe. It will be published in the third edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series celebrating 40 Nigerian female filmmakers in Nigeria and the Diaspora.

20 Years Since The New York Times Named #Nollywood

Norimitsu Onishi was the Chief of The New York Times’s southern Africa bureau, based in Johannesburg when he discovered the phenomenon of the first indie film industry in Africa in 2002 in the hustle and bustle of Lagos city, the heart and soul of the guerilla filmmakers of Nigeria.

How The Times Named ‘Nollywood’ in 2002

"It’s like Hollywood or Bollywood but in Nigeria — Nollywood!I told my editor."

- Norimitsu Onishi.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/insider/how-the-times-named-nollywood.html

The name of Nollywood has become the identity of the Nigerian film industry even though the making of the genre started in the 1980s which I have chronicled in my widely read and shared article, 

The Nollywood Phenomenon: From Analog to Digital - SHADOW & ACT
https://shadowandact.com/the-nollywood-phenomenon-from-analog-to-digital-2

The article shows the evolution of Nollywood over the years and how the digital cinema revolution has made a critical impact in the advancement of Nollywood since 2002.

It is now 30 years since the production of the first Nollywood blockbuster, "Living in Bondage" by Chris Obi Rapu in 1992 written and produced by Kenneth Nnebue and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor. And as we say in Lagos, many waters have passed under the Eko Bridge from 1992 to 2022.

Traditional filmmakers of the old school of filmmaking on celluloid still say Nollywood is video and not cinema. But top people in the global film industry said: Every region has unique stories to tell. And we should encourage them to tell their stories first and not be hindered by the technical requirements for professional film production. That the first thing is to supply on demand, because it was the overwhelming quantity of Nollywood home videos in the 1990s that attracted the rest of the world before the improvements in the quality. 

There have been significant improvements in the quality of the movies as Nollywood filmmakers have been adapting to current developments in filmmaking by using the same digital cinema cameras used by their counterparts in Bollywood and Hollywood following international standards in film and TV productions.

The improvement in the quality of the content has attracted the leading International acquisition and distribution companies, major studios and OTT video streaming services from America and Europe. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are now demanding for the best content in Nollywood and well produced movies have been acquired. 

There have been international productions of Nigerian movies featuring top Hollywood actors such as "The Amazing Grace" of 2006 directed by Jeta Amata, written by Jeta Amata and Nick Moran and produced by Jeta Amata and Alicia Arce with top roles by Joke Silva, Nick Moran and Scott Cleverdon; "Black November" directed by Jeta Amata in 2012, starring Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Fred Amata, Sarah Wayne Callies, Nse Ikpe Etim, OC Ukeje, Vivica Fox, Anne Heche, Persia White, Akon, Wyclef Jean and Mbong Amata; "30 Days in Atlanta" directed by Robert O' Peters and produced by AY Makun in 2014 starring Starring AY Makun, Ramsey Nouah, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Desmond Elliot, Vivica A. Fox, Lynn Whitfield, Karlie Redd, Majid Michel, Omoni Oboli, Racheal Oniga, Yemi Blaq and Juliet Ibrahim; "A Trip To Jamaica" directed by Robert O' Peters and produced by AY Makun in 2016 starring AY Makun,Funke Akindele, Nse Ikpe Etim, Dan Davies, Eric Roberts and others; "Esohe" directed by Charles Uwagbai and Robert O' Peters in 2018 starring Jimmy Jean Louis, Misty Lockheart, Desmond Elliot, Chris Attoh, Bimbo Manuel, Ufuoma McDermott, Toyin Aimakhu, Jemima Osunde and Monica Omorodion Swaida; "A Soldier's Story 2" of 2020 directed by Frankie Ogar and produced by Martin Gbados, starring  Eric Roberts, John J Vogel Jr, Alex Usifo, Akin Lewis, Segun Arinze, Linda Ejiofor, Somkele Idhalama, Michelle Dede, Daniel K. Daniel, Tope Tedela, Baaj Adebule, Samabasa Nzeribe and others; "Christmas in Miami" of 2021 directed by Robert O'Peters and produced by AY Makun starring Ayo Makun, Osita Iheme, Richard Mofe-Damijo, IK Ogbonna, Kent Morita, Raquel Lamanna, Manoj Chandra, Malcolm Burtchett, Nadya Marie, Tanya Price, Barry Piacente and Catherine Olsen and Adah Obekpa's "The American King" of 2021 starring Enyinna Nwigwe, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Andrew Howard and Nick Moran who has been playing prominent roles in the international productions of Nollywood movies since the 2000s to date. 
"The American King" directed and produced by Dr. Adah Obekpa, a Nigerian medical doctor in America. The romantic comedy featured famous African American singer, Akon with top Hollywood and Nollywood stars.

It is importan we document the new developments in Nollywood since 2002 to date for film history and film studies. That is why I working on a documentary film on "Nollywood Rising: The New Generation".

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry published since 2013.

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

Special hardcover editions are available for purchase from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

 

#Peace #Peaceanyiamosigwe #Nollywood #Nigeria #Africa #movies #cinema #TV #series #filmmaking #filmmaker #legacy #film #building 

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Bloody Bloody Hollywood

The Glamorization of Gun Violence by Hollywood  

Hollywood glamorizes gun violence in many action movies.  These extremely violent movies like "SUICIDE SQUAD" and "John Wick" have senseless scenarios of gun violence without intelligence.

Many people have spoken and written on the addiction and obsession of Hollywood to the production of violent movies showing many idiotic and unrealistic scenarios of gun violence.

According to the American Public Health Association (APHA), gun violence is a leading cause of premature death in the U.S. Guns kill more than 38,000 people and cause nearly 85,000 injuries each year. 

https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence

Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually and was the leading cause of death for children 19 and younger in 2020. 

Regardless of the pros and cons debates and speeches on the Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution that protects the right to keep and bear arms, anyone who has conscience and intelligence will know that the most critical cause of human crisis is lack of rational analysis of every condition or situation in life. 

Recommended:

The Gun Industry's Lucrative Relationship With Hollywood

https://features.hollywoodreporter.com/the-gun-industrys-lucrative-relationship-with-hollywood/

The weapons effect is a controversial theory described and debated in the scientific field of social psychology. It refers to the mere presence of a weapon or a picture of a weapon leading to more aggressive behavior in humans, particularly if these humans are already aroused. Wikipedia

Filmmakers and executive producers and the entire film industry ought to have the conscience and intelligence to know the self-destructive actions and consequences of the promotion of gun violence in movies. And we must stop the production of such harmful movies.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series.