Kelvin Bowoto
Stakeholders have identified the reasons why Nigeria has been unable to recreate the success of its literary writers in the cinema business. In the last decade, Nigerian literary writers have dominated the African literature arena, producing consistently internationally praised works. That successful play on words has yet to be reflected in Nollywood, which features poorly written film scripts and stories.
Dr. Lizzy Ben-Iheanacho, author and board member of the Abuja Literary Society (ALS), and Brenda Ogbuka-Garba, screenwriter and co-founder of Ziva Works, blame the lack of quality films in Nollywood on producers, directors, and screenwriters who do not read. The couple revealed this during a panel session in Abuja called “Unveiling Nigeria’s Cinematic Gems: Overcoming the Screenplay Challenge to Match Its Literary Excellence,” which was presented by the Women International Film Festival Nigeria.
Dr. Ben-Iheanacho’s opening question, “Who is your best Nigerian female writer?” elicited a deadening silence, highlighting the dearth of a reading culture among filmmakers as the biggest impediment to quality films and scriptwriting in Nollywood. She emphasized the importance of reading in filmmaking, stating that filmmakers do not exist in isolation and hence cannot be effective filmmakers without relying on the literary culture that provided flight to their imaginations long before the emergence of cinema. In contrast, she recommended authors surrender the rights to adapt their works on screen to good film producers or screenwriters who can do a decent adaptation of their books on screen.
“A good author does not definitely make a good scriptwriter. So proposing that authors should make their novels into films on their own would not work. Chimamanda Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” has been successfully made into a film. However, Adichie did not profess to be an expert in a field she is unfamiliar with. She donated the film rights to her novel to the late director and filmmaker Biyi Bamidele. “But Nollywood should work on itself to gain Nigerian authors’ trust and confidence that they can give a good interpretation of their work on screen.”
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Ogbuka-Garuba reiterated the lack of a reading culture among Nigerian filmmakers and scriptwriters, claiming that the latter rely on ‘viewing movies’ for inspiration. “They watch a movie and then begin writing. My background is quite different. “I was a poet before discovering my passion for film and scriptwriting. My teachers, Zack Amata and Emil Garuba, showed me how to read, reread, and then write a script for it. We’ll get better storylines and plots if filmmakers and scriptwriters are also readers.
Beyond the cliched and floozy plots that abound in Nollywood, Ogbuka-Garuba stated that a lack of effort in researching stories also has an impact on the quality of Nollywood films, as they tend to rely heavily on stereotypes that not only demean women but also push Nigeria’s rich indigenous and cultural stories to the background.
“To create conflict, Nigerian filmmakers include three female characters who are at odds with a man. The women get into a fight the following minute, and one of them hurts the other. Our Nollywood films should tell more indigenous stories, rather than relying on stereotypes or favoring western culture.
Ogbuka-Garuba, while promoting her upcoming film, a love story between an Igbo woman and a Nigerian soldier in the 1970s, advised scriptwriters to choose the writer’s path. “Writers make accessible stories because they frequently write about themselves or others they know. “Good writing is about projecting images, cultures, and values of our society that will resonate with our people.”
Techrectory with Agency Report.
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