Nollywood Babylon

Nollywood Babylon (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining documentary taking a look at the Nigerian film industry, which is actually the third largest in the world only trailing the United States and India. The documentary starts off by telling us that there are nearly 2500 films produced there each year with the majority of them costing less than $15,000. From this point on we learn about the history of films in Nigeria, the lack of places to show them, how religion and politics play a huge part in the films that are made and we even get to meet filmmaker Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen as he starts filming BENT ARROWS. Overall I was happy with this film although there's no question that it's a tad bit uneven at times as it jumps around in the story it's trying to tell. There are many subplots discussed here and the majority of them are quite interesting including the death of movie houses and why there's only three theaters and none of them play movies from Nigeria. This leads to another interesting topic and it's how the poor are really the ones buying up these movies and we get to hear from some fans who say they watch three or five a night. It's also interesting seeing the filmmaker go about shooting his picture on which is obviously a very low budget to say the least. Seeing how the films are shot was very entertaining and it certainly made you want to check out some of the films. At just 74-minutes the film starts to lose some steam as certainly subjects drag on a bit. Still, those interested in cinema from around the world should enjoy this.

This colorful, information-packed documentary takes us inside the movie-making enterprise in the world's third largest film-producing country. We watch films being shot in a variety of locations and hear first-hand from actors, directors, and other professionals about what it's like to be in the business.

Along the way, we get a taste of life in Nigeria, the ups and downs of daily life and of working in an industry that is not exactly all glamor. It's encouraging to see a bootstrap enterprise divorced from Nigeria's colonial past, operated and financed by Nigerians and not by the IMF or by European tastemakers.

However we may respond to the actual films, cranked out quickly one after another on budgets averaging less than $15,000 apiece, it's a treat to witness the level of professionalism that makes everything come together in the making of a film. And it's a special treat to see an industry respond to today's Nigeria--its tastes and aspirations and its role in modern Africa.

Samir Mallal and Ben Addelman's feature-length doc about Nigeria's hugely successful film industry bursts with color, light, and sound. Vibrantly shot and sharply edited, the film is a whirlwind tour of Nollywood, offering multiple insights into the world's third largest movie-making center.

Mallal and Addelman take viewers deep inside sprawling Lagos, capturing the throbbing rhythms of its streets, its wild contradictions, and how they feed into Nigeria's speedy, soulful, fabulously lurid film-making. The people in the doc, particularly unbelievably prolific director Lancelot Imasuen, are as compellingly dramatic and funny as the characters in ultra low budget Nollywood classics like Private Sin and Highway to the Grave.