Explicit films proliferation: It’s not what we approve that we find out there –DG, NFVCB

Can you give us an insight into the new distribution framework your agency is currently embarking on? It is very crucial for us as a board to ensure that our censorship and classification are maintained. The best way to illustrate it is the fact that we are an industry that is home video dominated, structurally. […]

Can you give us an insight into the new distribution framework your agency is currently embarking on?

It is very crucial for us as a board to ensure that our censorship and classification are maintained. The best way to illustrate it is the fact that we are an industry that is home video dominated, structurally. Despite the fact that it is home video dominated, it is also very informal. The very essence that a film is rated PG 12 or whatever, does not mean anything if the people who are supposed to appreciate the classification do not know anything. If anybody just walks in and purchases a video and we do not know where it is going to be distributed, the essence of that classification will not mean anything because there is no way for us to know those who are going to have access to the films. This is why it is crucial for us to implement a distribution framework. A very strategic reason though, is the fact that the industry is in itself, informal. If you are asked what the best film is presently or is it 10 years ago or how much such a film sold, I am sure no one can answer these questions. This is until we begin a formal process of establishing how films are distributed and by who [and] of course, where. That is the only time we can begin to generate dependable statistics. We need to know who are the distributors and where they are located at any point in time. That is the essence of the distribution framework. And I think there is a form of ignorance on the part of some people who think that since we have come out with a distribution framework, we are thus tasked with the responsibility of distributing films. It is not in our mandate to distribute films. We only license those who are to distribute films.  We just create a set of conditions under which those who are empowered to distribute films must abide with. Our job is technically to continue to enforce that distribution framework and ensure that only those who have the license are allowed to do so.

At the recent inauguration of the Actors Guild of Nigeria in Abuja, you mentioned some areas of partnership you envisaged with the guild. Can you explain further?

This is more of a corporate social responsibility. It is not our core responsibility to deal with actors and actresses especially or directors. They are not our principal stakeholders. We deal with the producers and the distributors because these are the ones who do the distribution. But the actors are important because without an actor, you cannot have a film. One of the things we have observed so far in the industry is weaknesses in the Guilds. There is a lot of infighting in the Guild. I don’t think it is good for the industry. One of the key things to be done then is to empower the Guild as a trade association. They are the lifeblood of the film industry. It is the same thing in America with the Screen Writers’ Guild which is just like our Actors Guild. It is not governed by the government so there is no sense in saying the government should come in. I don’t think the government should come in and tell the actors how to do their business as far as the creative industry is concerned. It is the role of the films makers and actors to organize themselves. This is the only industry that admits any and everyone. It is very important for the writers to organize themselves. Filmmaking is a very crucial part of the arts. So, what qualifies you as a filmmaker is the number of films you have made. It is not the degree you got because anyone can obtain that. I may have a degree in filmmaking but have not made any films. I am not a filmmaker. The woman who wrote Harry Porter for instance is not an author. She is a housewife. Dr Wale Okediran, one time president of ANA, is a medical doctor. It is what you create that qualifies you to be what you are. So our work with the Actors Guild is to create the right type of capacity and environment for them to thrive, maybe at times, get them to undergo apprenticeship for example with the screenwriters of America or the UK. We want to help the industry to organize itself. We would provide the kind of assistance that will ensure that.

A source of worry to many Nigerians today is the proliferation of movies with explicit contents. What is the agency doing to mitigate this trend?

We are certainly worried by this. It’s a very worrying trend as you pointed out. We are currently in court with some producers of such films. When films are brought here, we censor and approve them. But most of the time, it is not what we approve that we find out there in the market. We then go to court but before we begin the court process, the films are already there. That is why we are particularly concerned with knowing who the licensed distributors are. These are the distributors who know what the law is and who know that flouting them will affect the business. It would also affect the producers as well. That is the channel we are going through now. This year, we also want to begin what we call a national digital censorship system. This will effectively deal with that problem. We cannot arrest most of these people so we have to go with the law enforcement agents to effect such arrests and

as we are in a democratic setting which preaches the rule of law. We must go through the prescribed channels by taking them to court and we are in several such cases presently. Some are fined as punitive measures. But in every society, if you depend only on law enforcement, you may not succeed. So, we are presently doing more of education and enlightenment and equally calling on members of the media to highlight these problems. We have also set up a task force in-house that will effectively deal with the challenge. We are making some progress.

What are the specific procedures you embark on when censoring such films?

We have an enabling law, an Act that Guides us on what we should look out for. For instance, it says that the vulnerable segment of our society such as children should be protected. There is also the dignity of womanhood and family life which should be protected. No scene or movie should promote or dignify crime or use of drugs. It says there should be no pornography or obscenity. There should be decency in films. It should promote ethnic cohesion. These and more are the basics we look out for. We do the censorship and then the classifications before such films are released into the public domain. When we look at the movie and we see things that go against the ideals, we say no. Or we tell them to go and redo it. Afterwards, if it is okay, we then allow it. In some cases when it is so bad, we may have to refuse approval for such movies. Since this board was inaugurated, we have not had up to 20 of such refusals. What we have however found out for some that we refused is that they just go ahead and release. And some of the films we have banned in Nigeria they release them in neighbouring African countries. And then such films find their way back into the country. When we notice that, we blacklist the producers entirely from even bringing their movies here. We have to balance this carefully so that we do not create an underground economy where people just ignore the censor’s board. This is to create confidence in these people so that on their own, they will be willing to submit their films for censorship.

Foreign soap operas are now more popular than local movies. Doesn’t this portend a threat for local content in the movie industry?

It is not our mandate to encourage this. It is the role of the Nigeria Film Corporation, NFC to do this. We don’t fund or distribute films. Our job is just to monitor access to films. We can only come in when such films such as the Mexican soaps are illegally produced. For you to distribute a film in DVD form,  we must censor and approve it. Most of these seasonal films on sale in Nigeria are clearly illegal. It is just that there is a market for it as people buy such films even though they know it is illegal. When we close one illegal place down another one springs up almost immediately somewhere else and it has become a continuous battle. Our borders are vey porous. And obviously because it is illegal, nobody brings it here for us to approve it. Within our limited resources, we are doing the best we can to address the issue. This year will witness a lot of aggressive enforcement on our part. We are also going to do what NBC does, have a sort of consumer parliament where we will involve the people who actually buy the films directly in our operations.

What specific challenges are you facing presently apart from those enumerated?

The biggest challenge we have is the reluctance of industry players to obey the law. The average person would tell you why should I obey the law? It is not the government that gave me the money. Whatever I decide to do with my money is my business. There is a very high reluctance amongst players in obeying the law. There is also a very high level of ignorance especially within the industry. A lot of people have not even bothered to read up the Act that set up the board and how it should operate and when you tell them this is what should be done, they tell you that Emeka Mba invented it. Am I the one who wrote the law? Also, Nigeria is a huge country and there is a high level of prolific activities amongst our youths. We are in the realm of a digital democracy. People are now enfranchised to make movies. Before, you had to get millions to shoot a celluloid movie but today with your mobile equipment and mobile camera you can easily shoot a movie with the aid of your computer and then Face Book, it becomes a movie. You can even burn it on your computer, print a jacket and then start distributing. So how do you regulate that kind of prolific activity? It is almost like a runaway industry. The only way we can do that is to employ some of the tactics we are using such as the distribution framework, the empowerment of the industry through a lot more education and collaboration and making sure that the guilds and structures are empowered. Censorship in a digital time is challenging. And of course, there is the challenge of funding. We have not had the benefit of the right kind of resources at our disposal.

What are the punitive measures against pirates?

There are punitive measures but those measures are too lenient. Most of the people we arrested in Lagos last year, about 21 of them were given N3, 000 fine. You can imagine someone caught with millions of pirated materials given such a punishment. Normally, that is the punishment for a first time offender as our prisons are so congested. But you cannot blame the judges because the law stipulates 3 months imprisonment or N3000-N5000 fine for such offenses. They pay their fine promptly and walk out of the court calmly. But of course, if such people are caught again the court will not take it lightly with them. Then they will be regarded as repeat offenders. But presently we are working with the National Assembly and we hope by the end of the current year, we would have finished reviewing our anti-piracy laws. These laws were set up almost 20 years ago. So they are a bit outdated and do not take into cognizance the way digital technology has moved ahead.

Do you honestly think that Nollywood in its current form can ever meet up with the quality exhibited by other global industries like Bollywood and Hollywood?

Yes of course! That is why we are harping on effective distribution of our works. It is a critical area. It is distribution that drives content and also creates the money and makes sure that monies invested in films come back to the producers and enables him or her to go and make more and better movies. If it is weak or inefficient it stops the flow. If the flow of money stops, producers will begin to spend less and less. As the producer is lowering his budget the quality of such films are being lowered also. That is why distribution is key. The second is funding. It helps those interested in films to access money to make these films. The kind of films that can win Oscars or world acclaim are sadly films that producers in Alaba or Onitsha will not want to sponsor. The ministry is currently working with the World Bank and we hope that before the end of the year, such a fund will be in place. We also need capacity building at the level of the Guilds.

Presently, what is going on at the films institute is amazing. The institute is producing fantastic men and women who are contributing their quota to the film industry. We need more of such investments in that direction. I think members of the Guild and industry should take advantage of these institutes to improve on themselves. These are the critical elements that will help us improve the industry. But you will agree with me that you cannot compare the audiences of the different industries you mentioned with our own peculiar one here in Nigeria. But a good film is a good film and should speak to anyone in any language. Take the ‘figurine’ for instance. It speaks to you in any language. We also need a peer review mechanism which would constantly monitor people’s responses to movies and also help producers make improvements on their subsequent works after being guided by the responses from the viewers.

Theatre based productions are being relegated to the background. Is this good for the industry?

It is a matter of funding. What happened was that there was no commercial economy driving it, it was more of sponsorship. I think it was Chartered Bank or GTB that used to sponsor such productions once a year then. It was fantastic. Systemically, it is not sustainable. You need to create an economy that is sustainable by the commercial nature of stage theatre. If you go to other climes, theatres sustain themselves. There, they have the infrastructure on ground to sustain the industry. Unfortunately, here we do not have that. So home videos turn out to be the easier and cheaper method for people to get their entertainment. To build a theatre background you need investment. And this cannot be done by only one individual. Or alternatively, the government can come in to support.