Nollywood Babylon - Tim J.

A few weeks ago I attempted to order a copy of Nollywood Babylon, a documentary on the Nigerian film industry by a group of Canadian filmmakers. 'No problem, Mr Johnston, just transfer us €34.95 and the DVD will be with you within ten working days', came the swift reply. Those who know of my Judeo-Scottish background can imagine that that transaction never took place. All the more thrilled was I when my dissertation supervisor called my attention to a screening of the documentary at the British Museum ('Re: Nollywood - You MUST go'). With only three days to go before my trip experience Nollywood first-hand, I interpreted timing of the screening as nothing less than a sign from above.

Nollywood Babylon begins with a history tour of Nigerian cinema, from colonialist so-called documentaries that brought home news of 'savages' and their quirky customs to the late 1980s and the artistic pinnacle of filmmaking in West Africa. Film only became an industry in 1992, after the financial success of Living in Bondage, a subliminally political feature film. When got about that you could make a living with a camera and aVW van full of aspiring actors, the number of films produced exploded: from a handful of films before 1992 to now 900-2,500 per year.

Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen is the Michael Bay of Nigeria. With 158 films under his belt (a figure, which will have risen considerably by the time of writing) the man in his thirties is the most prolific director in Lagos. His statement that 'the business of filmmaking is about making money' makes inevitable comparisons to the man who has been involved in at least one of the ten highest-grossing films every year for the past decade. But Lancelot personifies the comic relief in a film that offers more belly-laughs than most comedies I can recall. The poor special effects and overacting that are ubiquitous in Nollywood had the auditorium in tears time and time again. I noted that about half the viewers were Nigerian and therefore acquainted with these charming shortcomings that offer a quick fix to homesickness. Lancelot's insistence on praying before, after and during every film ('god willing, this camera will work to its full capability and beyond) and a cameraman's claim that his camera had stopped working due to witchcraft were met with hysterical laughter, no matter what the viewers' religious affiliation.

During the second half of the film, it switches from lighthearted report on the industry to critique of faith-basedfilmmaking as done by Helen Ukpabio, head of a 50,000 strong gospel church. Criticism of religion? Fine by me - and yet the producers' decision to make a political point during what hitherto had been a mere unbiased account to me seemed somewhat incongruous. That aside, the documentary is highly entertaining and, due to the amount of laughs, recommendable even to those who have never heard of Nollywood - who despite its recent rise still constitute the majority.