Africa Movie Day: Major Collaboration Plans For Nigerian, Finnish Movie Industry

 The Nigerian film industry and filmmakers from Finland are preparing for a massive collaborative program soon.

At the African movie day event that took place at the Cinema Orion in Eerinkinkatu, Helsinki, on Wednesday, Nigerian moviemaker and thespian, Chris Iheuwa, alongside Deutsche Welle journalist, Lolade Adewuyi, explained how the Nigerian movie industry has transitioned over the years and how they can attain further prominence on the global stage.

In this article, we will discuss some of the major points from their conversation at the Africa Movie Day event. One of the objectives of the African Week event is to continually establish a professional relationship between the host, Finland, and the burgeoning Nigerian community in the Scandinavian nation.

Africa Movie Day

As stated during the program, the entertainment industry via Nollywood has been recognized as one of the most essential approaches to help achieve that objective.

The Evolution of Nollywood

Inside the Orion Cinema in Helsinki

Chris Iheuwa, who has appeared in legendary Nollywood movies such as Rattlesnake and the series Checkmate, has been described as one of the pioneers of Nollywood explained how the Nigerian movie industry has come a long way. With a background in Theatre Arts, Mr Iheuwa connected how the movie industry was commenced in the 20^th century. He explained that the Nigerian movie industry started way back in the 1900s, and the first Nigerian-made film was titled Palava.

Speaking during the session, Chris said, “The first movie was sponsored and created by the British Colonial Service (BCS), not everyone had the expertise to do a full-fledged movie, therefore, people did more of comedy, skits, and stage drama.”

Speaking at the event from L-R: Chris Iheuwa, Lolade Adewuyi, and host, Kirpi Uimonen 

He went on to explain that the emergence of Herbert Ogunde via stage play helped in sowing the seed that would help to evolve into the mainstream sector that would be recognized as Nollywood in modern times. Nollywood has since become the number one movie production organization to emerge from Africa, and it is only the third behind Hollywood (the American movie industry) and Bollywood (the Indian movie industry) in terms of production.

The Storyline and Culture of Nollywood: “Hunger for stories from Africans on what they can relate to”

Orion Cinema, Helsinki

Nigerian-born German-based reporter and filmmaker, Lolade Adewuyi, explained how only Nigerians can talk about African struggles and create a narrative that would help to entertain, inform, and educate the audience.

According to Adewuyi, it is integral for Nigerians to create a narrative that their audience can relate to.

“Nigerian stories are designed to tell and explain what happens to you and why there are successes and failures in life,” he said. Adewuyi continued, “The Nigerian movie industry focuses on spirituality and explains several adversities that personalities go through.”

Speakers of the event

He didn’t stop there; he went on to add that Nollywood movies resonate with the African audience. He had this to say, “Africans can understand what their fellow Africans go through, and it resonates with the African community. African film cuts above Nigeria, West Africa, and the Caribbean community in Britain.”

How To Improve Nigeria/Finland Film Collaboration

Adewuyi, Kirpi and Iheuwa

During the session, a question was raised by the host, Kirpi Uimonen, she asked, “Do you want to collaborate with a small country like Finland?”. Finland is a country of almost five million people, meanwhile, Nigeria is one of the most populated nations in the world with over 200 million people. Specifically, Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world.

Addressing the question, Adewuyi said, “Film is a medium where cultures can meet. There’s an opportunity for cultures to meet- find the point of interaction.” Making a suggestion on movie collaboration, Adewuyi said, “It is important to tell the stories of Nigerians in Finland- challenges of being an immigrant (the cold, the struggles of settling in)”.

“Nigerian movie makers can bring movies from Nigeria and the rest of Africa to share their production with the rest of the world,” he suggested.

What Can The Nigerian Movie Industry Offer To Finnish Film Company?

Chris Iheuwa addressed this question. He spoke about how the Nigerian moviemakers have been able to create a magnanimous organization without necessarily receiving financial support from the nation’s government. Speaking, Iheuwa said, “Nigerians strive to make box office movies, they make something out of nothing. If there are funds available, the Nigerian film industry will combust.”

Here are further suggestions made during the African Movie Day event:

Shooting a documentary on refugees:

1.    There is a big market for documentaries. However, there might be no economic value because there isn’t enough governmental support.

 

short Nigerian-Cameroonian film displayed

How To Find Collaborators:

Here is how the speakers at the event suggested that Finnish filmmakers can connect with their Nigerian counterparts:

1. Through mouth-to-mouth conversation

2. Discovering practitioners through the use of ⁠Instagram and social media platforms such as LinkedIn and X (otherwise known as Twitter).

3. Conduct research via the use of Google and Wikipedia.

4. Filmmakers have been admonished to attend festivals and send an open documentary. An example is making an appearance at the African International Film Festival.

5. Access to bring key players from Lagos to Helsinki for enlightenment about the culture, and the establishment of interpersonal relationships.