Why Nollywood is important – Wanjiku wa Ngugi

I was born and raised in Kenya and later attended New York University, in the US where I studied Sociology and Political Science. I later worked as an editor for a publishing house in New Jersey, US that published books on African related issues, after which I moved to Eritrea and later worked in Zimbabwe […]

I was born and raised in Kenya and later attended New York University, in the US where I studied Sociology and Political Science. I later worked as an editor for a publishing house in New Jersey, US that published books on African related issues, after which I moved to Eritrea and later worked in Zimbabwe before I moved to Finland.

As a student at NYU, I got a part-time job assisting in the office of African filmmaker and critic Dr. Manthia Diawara, head of the Africana Studies department at NYU. Although this was short-lived, as I later went into the publishing field, it was here that my introduction to African films began. I discovered a new world, having not really been exposed to African films in Kenya. Finally here were Africans telling African stories. It was great! Back when I was in high school, I remember watching Cry Freedom—a story about [murdered South African activist] Steve Biko in apartheid South Africa—numerous times when it was screened in the cinemas. And even though this was a Hollywood film, meaning Africans quickly take a back seat to the “White heroes” who bring their struggles to the fore, it was still exciting to see African people on the big screen.

Years later I got involved in film set productions in Zimbabwe mainly as a Production Manager, and although I am not a filmmaker, I believe that there is a role for critics, fans, festival organizers to showcase and promote African films, and not just makers of film.

We are actually trying to build relationships across different sectors within the film industry- for instance building partnerships with film festivals in Africa, join forces, exchange ideas, promote films as a collective, as opposed to just organizing festivals in isolation of each other.

What are some of the objectives of the Helsinki African film festival and how did you become involved with it? What kind of feedback did you receive?

We are constantly bombarded by images and stories in the media about Africa´s depiction as the Dark Continent that produces dark stories and images.  These stories and images seen around the world of the dead and dying, the hungry and the weak have helped to shape a rather myopic view of Africa and Africans.  For most people in the West, Africa is one huge country with warring despots and roaming tribes… Africa stands as a misunderstood continent. Images are extremely powerful as they help to formulate perceptions—good or bad.  These images do not reflect the aspirations of Africans. They just serve to perpetuate stereotypes, so we wanted to help combat these by starting HAFF, to showcase this vast continent that houses more than fifty countries, thousands of languages and diverse cultures. And because Finland only showed the occasional African film, we decided to begin a festival that celebrates African people through film.

Our first film festival was held early this year in May to virtually sold-out screenings. Every screening had a full house with some even opting to sit on the steps. It was all very exciting and we hope next year will be bigger and better. We are hoping to screen about 17 films next year.

Organizing a festival is a demanding but satisfying project and we learned that there is clearly a significant audience for African films if they are well marketed, even in a country like Finland where African films are rarely seen.

What countries/languages are represented at the film festival? What do you think about the popular Nollywood films? What are they contributing to African cinema?

At HAFF we hope to show films from across the continent, as long as they fit in with the theme. Of course, we are just starting out so we can only screen a limited number of films per festival. Our theme for next year is Women´s Voices, which means films by and or about women, or starring women in lead roles, or dealing with women´s issues. We are, however, still in the process of film selection.

At the last festival we concentrated on 35mm films but we do not want to limit showing films to just this medium. We cannot for instance leave out Nollywood in our grand scheme of things. In fact Nollywood films cannot be ignored in the context of African film in general. I think Nollywood and the subsequent video phenomena, e.g. Ugawood, Riverwood, showcase the power of determining what stories are told, by whom and for whom. For instance they do not have to rely on “Western” funding as is the case in the “artistic” films being produced on the continent, so they are not influenced regarding the script or images.

These low budget films, whatever the shortcomings, are filling a vital gap of telling stories that Africans can identify with. So it is a positive influence, and a genius concept that makes it possible for an audience, who cannot otherwise afford to pay cinema hall fees, to access films. It goes without saying that the quality will improve with time, especially if the economy of these countries picks up.

Your father, Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, is heavily invested in promoting writing in African languages. Do you feel that films are able to open up more possibilities for African languages? Are African language films able to cross borders more easily than African language writing?

Yes, certainly the question of language is as vital and important in the process of African films as it is vital and important in writing. And I do agree with my father when he says that language is the carrier of culture as well as memory—that language and culture are inseparable. If African languages survive, so will our culture, and the opposite is also true. If African languages die, our cultures will go down with them.

African films and literature in African languages both relay narratives albeit in different formats, and therefore play important roles in preserving languages, keeping alive cultural heritage, norms and values.   However, it seems to me that in terms of expediency, and in the absence of a vigorous language literature, it is the films, especially the videos that are reaching far bigger audiences. But then again, perhaps this should be instructive to the publishers of African literature, who often lament that it is financially difficult to publish in local languages. They say that the books won’t have a market, and so they opt to publish in Western languages. The production and consumption of videos and films in African languages may just prove that there is a market after all.

You mentioned earlier that you had gone into the publishing field after university. Could you talk about your experience in publishing?

Publishing in Africa is growing, and thanks to technology, it is now easier to publish books, self-publish, or start small publishing houses. But having said that, I have to point out that the challenges facing African publishing are still enormous, because Africa´s book contribution to the world still stands at about 2%. As it is now many publishers are concentrating on educational publishing and as a result about 70% of books found in the continent are imported from the West, and that speaks volumes about whose knowledge has taken centre stage. Government policy on book development are almost non-existent, and publishers have to contend with poor distribution network, poor transport link, weak library systems and so on.

In order to strengthen the book industry, many factors need to change, perhaps an overhaul of the system—a change in the economic as well as educational policies that are being pursued, and importantly a change of the domination of African publishing by transnational corporations.

Then there is the question of African languages—to publish or not to publish in African languages. Publishing in English or French for the most part ensures that knowledge is kept from the majority of people who cannot speak these languages. A paradigm shift is required not only amongst publishers, but writers, readers, government sector, teachers, literary award organisers, etc.  It goes back to question of self-identity. But as I mentioned before there is a market for language publishing but there has to be clear Language policies in place.

How would you respond to those who feel that African language publishing promotes disunity rather than unity?

This is an age-old argument advocating for the continued dominance of foreign languages in countries whereby the majority of people don’t speak the foreign languages in the first place. It is basically states that multilingualism brings about disunity within communities, but one must bear in mind that monolingualism is not a guarantee for national unity either. It is basically an argument that exhausts itself quite quickly. Ultimately, the question of language is a question of power, and the language of production in a society is the one with the power. It is simply goes without saying that if one cannot participate in the language of production within one´s community, then one cannot get fully involved in the democratic, and or development politics of their community.

Inevitably differences between the elite who have mastered the language of power and the rest of the population is sharpened, and this for the most part has been the experience of Africans.  Allowing African languages to die off is tantamount to letting go of our power, our essence, our belief systems, as well as our collective struggles. For Africa to begin to free itself, engagement of African languages in all spheres of society is a must.