The first Nigerian films were made by filmmakers like Ola Balogun and Hubert Ogunde in the 1960s, but they were frustrated by the high cost of film production. During this period, cinemas were immensely popular and well patronised by the young and the old alike. Unfortunately, today it’s a different story. ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM, Abuja and SAMUEL ABULUDE, Lagos write on how the cinema culture in Nigeria can be revived.

In post-independence Lagos and also in northern parts of Nigeria like Kano, Kaduna, and others, going to the the cinema was thrilling for youths and elderly alike, who would save up to go to the movies.

Cinemas thrived in Nigeria when peace and cohabitation were no luxuries; people had fun and life was really good and interesting.

The law limited foreign television content so producers in Lagos began televising local and popular theatre productions. Many of these were circulated on video as well, and a small-scale informal video movie trade developed.

A vivid reminder at Owoyemi Street, Ajegunle, Lagos was a popular cinema house around the 80s and 90s which was well patronised.

With keen enthusiasm, men, women and even children diligently saved money to go watch Chinese, Indian and American films. The environment was different from any viewing centre because of the crowed it pulled and the images on the wall. People loved to sit and watch almost all the movies of the day. To watch a movie in those days, cost just N3 to N5. Outside the cinema, women and children who sell guguru and ekpa (popcorn and peanuts) made brisk business.

Moi moi, sugarcane, bread and akara(beans cake), kwilikwili(groundnut cake) puff puff, etc were some of the snacks been sold to cinema-goers. Couples would sit together, eating bread and akara, or chewing sugarcane with happiness while the movie played on.

I remember some of the movies I watched in the cinema- 5 Lucky Kids, Ninja Domination, Jugnu, Yeh Vadha Raha, Idi Amin, Sholay, Destinambari(10/10), Equaliser 2000, Rambo, Coming To America, Commando and many others. These movies lured everyone to the cinema.

In the north, the case was slightly different because of the culture of the people. Northerners love Indian movies up till date. Movie lovers patronised various cinemas in Sabon Gari, Kafin Maiyaki in Kiru LGA of Kaduna State and others.

Today, technology and insecurity have changed all of that as terrorist attacks have deterred people from having this fun.

Though the Nigerian film industry in its earliest days produced films on celluloid and the films were screened in cinema houses across Nigeria and later released on VHS for various homes, in 1992 the release of the straight-to-video movie, Living In Bondage by NEK Video Links owned by Kenneth Nnebue, launched the home video market in Nigeria. Nnebue had an excess number of imported video cassettes so he decided to shoot his first film with a video camera.

The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to as Nollywood, is the Nigerian film industry which grew quickly in the 1990s and 2000s to become the second largest film industry in the world, in number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of the United States and slightly behind the Indian cinema.

The Nigerian film industry is worth N853.9 billion (US$5.1 billion) as at 2014 and produces hundreds of home videos and films per annum.

Nollywood is Africa’s largest movie industry in terms of value and the number of movies produced per year. Although Nigerian films have been produced since the 1960s, the rise of affordable digital filming and editing technologies has stimulated the country’s film and video industry.

Today, Silverbird is championing the rebirth of cinema viewing in Nigeria, with several centres across country.

The serenity of the environment, the seating arrangement, the large projector screen and other perks tell you that major technological advancements have taken place.

Many movie producers now prefer to screen their movies in cinemas, seeing how the industry has evolved.

The screening of Labo, Life is a Journey at the Silverbird cinema by producer, Roseline Sanni-Ajose, and directed by Femi Fadeyi showed how cinema screening has evolved over the years.

Jude Anosike is an engineer who has a family of five. Residing at the Dopemu area of Lagos, he loves to enjoy life to the fullest, having lived abroad for more than a decade. Every weekend, he takes his young family of three kids, aged 14, 11 and 9 to the Silverbird Galleria at Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island in Lagos while his wife, Annabela stays at home to prepare the home for the coming week. On a good day, it takes him about 2 hours to get to the island and another 45 minutes to get to watch his favourite movie in the company of his two boys.

The scenario is a middle income family that has imbibed the cinema culture of yesteryears. Nothing less than N5, 000 is spent weekly by the man to ensure his children have the best of social life which contributes to wellbeing of child development.

In our 21st century Nigeria, not every family can enjoy this luxury, since alternatives are in place for the family to watch movies in the comfort of their homes. The cinema culture in Nigeria which virtually died decades ago, is being revived with the advent of different cinemas being erected in metropolitan cities across the country. These cinemas afford the family an opportunity to enjoy outdoor events.

Yesteryears

In the 80s, social life was at its peak in Lagos with different cinemas and recreational parks scattered across the suburbs of Lagos. Pen Cinema of Agege was a beehive of activities at the weekend and every evening, because residents of Lagos can watch the movies of Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Moses Olaiya (Baba Sala ) and other theatre practitioners of yore who used the celluloid medium to tell their stories. A cinema at Kosofe area of Ketu suburb of Lagos also bubbled then as you could choose whether to watch the movies of Nigeria film makers or watch your favourite Indian actor or indulge by watching the Chinese films. Though these foreign movies competed with our few local ones, they afforded the people choices of entertainment. Other cinemas scattered across Lagos State, including the ones mentioned are no longer serving their purposes. Kosofe Cinema, which was housed in a 3-storey building, has been turned into a bustling brothel where girls of easy virtue practise ply their trade.

Sadly, the dwindling economy in the 90s affected the finances of our film makers and the celluloid medium gave way gradually to the era of home videos, which in no small measure affected the cinema culture. According to the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), regulators of cinemas in the country, Nigeria can only boast of 13 cinemas of global standard and not more than 65 screens in those edifices. Lagos has 10 cinemas, while Benin-Cty in Edo State, Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Kano city in Kano State have one cinema each. The cinemas in Lagos are only found in more urbanised areas like Victoria Island, Ikeja, Yaba, and Surulere, based on economic reasons. But are the operators making fortunes, considering the population of Lagos State which is between 15 million and 20 million people?

The cinema culture is not fully revived yet. Even facilities like football fields, basketball courts and tennis courts are a luxury in Lagos. Thanks to the Lagos State government, recreational parks are being built in different places, but majority of Lagos residents are yet to be informed on the need to make use of these facilities regularly. Since most Nigerians wallow in poverty, going to the cinemas will remain a luxury, except government and private investors bring the cinemas nearer to the people at affordable prices. Nowadays, young adults watch their favourite football teams scattered across Europe via the viewing centres in their neighbourhoods. This is akin to going to the cinemas in the 80s.

Solutions

For moviemakers who are the engine rooms of the movie industry, they want their movies screened at the cinemas for people to watch and give feedback, making money in the process. Cinematographer, Tunde Kelani in an earlier interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend harped on the need first of all for state and local governments to build recreational facilities and within those facilities, small viewing centres or cinema halls can be used to showcase their movies at affordable prices.

Shuaib Hussein, film critic and member of the African Movies Academy Awards (AMAA) jury says that to revive the cinema culture, stakeholders and government should consider the market and make smaller cinemas. He said, “We have to build more cinemas, make the tickets affordable, produce quality films that we can show moviegoers and really make the cinemas accessible. Right now people pay so much to go and see films in the few cinemas we have in Lagos. I always use myself as an example. I reside in area not too far from Badagry. The only standard cinema close to me is Filmhouse in Surulere. The other is in Yaba. It will cost me nothing less than N3,000 to take a taxi to Surulere from where I reside and if I choose to go by bus, I will spend nothing less than N2000 to and fro. So after spending N2000 on transport, I will be required to spend another N1000 (which is the average cost of cinema ticket, though Filmhouse charges 500) and then may be spend another N1000 on popcorn and soft drink. That’s already N4000. How many Nigerians can afford to spend N4000 in a cinema weekly? It’s expensive! Cinema is still too elitist in Nigeria. We need to build cinemas that are accessible and affordable, yet standard.

“When I mean standard, it means we can even show Hollywood films there. Interestingly there is a provision in the national film policy that stipulates the provision of community cinemas in the 774 local government areas of the country. But that aspect of the national film policy and indeed the whole document called the national film policy have not been implemented. When implemented, cinema will be affordable, accessible and then we can have more screens and that will translate to more revenue for the filmmakers. At the moment we have only about 60 standard screens in a country with a population of about 180 million people. India has well over 11000 screens and South Africa here boast of about a thousand screens and Nigeria the giant of them all is still clapping over 60 screens. We need to build more cinemas- community cinemas.

“We can start with one standard cinema with about 4 screens in each local government. Imagine if a film like October 1 opens in 774 screens across the country with the kind of publicity it has gotten, even if it records only 100 people in each of the cinema, and I know it will attract more because of the quality of the film, you know what that will be in terms of revenue for the filmmaker. I know the talk will be oh government is too preoccupied with other things and so they cannot begin to build cinemas but the local government can partner with the private sector on this. Make it easy for those in the private sector to acquire land, while the federal government can give tax relief for importation of standard equipment. The revenue that will accrue to government and its potential for employment generation and boosting of local economy can best be imagined.”

In conclusion, the entertainment industry in Nigeria is full of untapped potentials. And many will agree that the industry, which is in dire need of development, can impact on the economy immensely. Already, according to a report, the industry whose potential is till largely untapped, needs the help of foreign and local investors. Also, with the backing of government agencies acting as buffers, the road is clear for massive transformation through the building of cinemas and facilities for recreation.