Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Sundance Films: Nollywood Babylon

Title: Nollywood Babylon
Director: Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal
Website: http://www3.nfb.ca/webextension/nollywood-babylon/
Potential Major Release Date: No release date, but there is a ‘buy DVD’ function on their site that reads “available in 2009.”

Summary: Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal's colorful documentary goes behind the scenes with filmmaker Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen -- aka "Da Governor" -- a major player in Nigeria's thriving direct-to-video industry, dubbed "Nollywood" in the early 1990s. Produced on a shoestring budget, the genre's juicy tales of religion, sex, magic and urban culture have created a national craze that's made Nollywood the third-largest movie industry in the world (NetFlix).

Thoughts: I saw the first three quarters of this trailer and was hooked, but the last little bit sorta confused me on the direction the film wanted to take. Is it a recap/highlight documentary, or a mildly political documentary? I’m not sure, but hopefully this is in the same mold as IFC’s wonderfully done “A Decade Under the Influence”.

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