Article by Viory
Nollywood, Africa’s highest-grossing film industry, is riding high, dominating box offices at home, filling cinemas abroad and securing a strong presence on global streaming platforms. But away from the spotlight, a quieter shift is changing the industry from the inside.
Women producers and directors, long pushed to the margins of a male-dominated sector, are now at the centre of Nollywood’s recent momentum, shaping both the stories being told and the way African cinema is presented to the world.
Footage captured in Lagos on Wednesday shows a crew from Africa Magic setting up cameras and adjusting lighting inside a studio as filming gets underway on a new production.
Director Patience Oghre said the international appeal of Nollywood lies in its authenticity.
“We are telling original Nigerian stories, and that’s what the world wants to see. We try to infuse culture, our vocation, our religion, and many other elements into our films,” Oghre said.
Producer Adironke Oshinjobi pointed to the industry’s growing economic importance, describing Nollywood as a major contributor to national revenue.
“Every time there are box office earnings, the government earns a percentage of the total ticket sales […] it is also bringing in returns for investors and providing jobs for cast and crew members,” Oshinjobi said.
“Hollywood doesn’t just dominate the American market, it dominates the entire world. Therefore, having Nigerian Nollywood movies dominate our box office is huge, that is success,” she added.
Nigeria is one of the few countries where locally produced films consistently outperform Hollywood releases at the domestic box office.
Now the world’s second-largest film industry by output, Nollywood has travelled a long way from its VHS-tape beginnings in the 1990s. Today, Nigerian films are screened in international cinemas and streamed globally on platforms such as Netflix.
That industry marked a major milestone in January, when filmmaker Funke Akindele broke the ₦2 billion box-office mark. Her latest production, ‘Behind The Scenes’, crossed ₦2.1 billion (Roughly 1.4 million USD), becoming the highest-grossing Nollywood film ever released.
For the third consecutive year, Akindele has topped the African box office. Industry analysts say the run has cemented her position as Nollywood’s most bankable filmmaker and one of the key figures driving the industry’s global expansion.
Article by Viory
Share this content:
