The Nigerian film industry, or Nollywood as it has come to be known, is one of the most prolific producers of film fiction in the world and has influenced and stimulated the African film industry beyond the borders of Nigeria itself. With over 1,200 video films produced each year, Nigeria has become one of the most prolific producers of film fiction in the world. The majority of the films are of poor quality, made on very low budgets and in a very short time,but their production has a big impact on people in Nigeria and the industry's influence is extending across the continent. This book examines how the experiences and lives of Nigerians are narrated through the storyboards ofthe video producers, who copy with confidence and energy the recipes and formulas of popular films. As a home-grown industry that emerged spontaneously and without outside support, its vitality is a counter to 'Afro-pessimism' and demonstrates the possibility of reviving the African film industry and developing a cinema-going public to support it. PIERRE BARROT works in the Dept for Cultural Co-operation and Action at the French Embassy in Algiers, and was formerly the Regional Audio-Visual Attach at the French Embassy in Lagos. Contributors include TUNDE KELANI, OLIVIER BARLET, TUNDE OLADUNJOYE, FREDERIC NOY, DON PEDRO OBASEKI, IBBO DADDY ABDOULAYE, FRANCK BAKU FUITA, GODEFROID BWITI LUMISA & OGOVA ONDEGO Revised & updated from an earlier French edition published by Harmattan; Published in association with the French Embassy of Abuja; North America: Indiana University Press;Nigeria: HEBN

This comprehensive collection of essays dedicated to the work of filmmaker Raoul Peck is the first of its kind. The essays, interview, and keynote addresses collected in Raoul Peck: Power, Politics, and the Cinematic Imagination focus on the ways in which power and politics traverse the work of Peck and are central to his cinematic vision. At the heart of this project is the wish to gather diverse interpretations of Raoul Peck's films in a single volume. The essays included herein are written by scholars from different disciplines and are placed alongside Peck's own articulations around the nature of power and politics. Raoul Peck: Power, Politics, and the Cinematic Imagination provides an introduction to Peck's better-known films, interpretations of his rarely seen and recently released early films, and original analyses of his more recent films. It endeavors to explore the ways in which the dual themes of power and politics inform the work of Peck by taking a multidisciplinary approach to contextualizing his filmography. It culls contributions from scholars who write from a wide range of disciplines including history, film studies, literary studies, postcolonial studies, French and Francophone studies and African studies. The result is a volume that offers divergent perspectives and frames of expertise by which to understand Peck's oeuvre that continues to expand and deepen.

This book is both a personal journey and an introduction to the cinema cultures of Africa. A book about the politics of cultural survival, it is also a major overview of African cinema and television. The first part of the book traces the development of African cinema - from colonization to Afrocentrism. The author examines this development through a variety of fundamental themes: the decolonization of the imagination; the quest for legendary African origins and the mobilization of African cultural values. The second part of the book analyses specific films, particularly through narrative and in terms of their African specificity - in the use of silence, orality and humour. Finally, the author explores the social and economic contexts of the African cinema and television industry - including its often vexed relations with the West and the problems of production and distribution African film-makers face. Exploring the achievements and challenges of those who seek to affirm African cultural values through film, the book also covers the African television industry and African-American cinema. It includes interviews with film-makers, stills from the films and, ultimately, a plea for seeing and respecting the otherness of the Other. Winner of the French National Film Centre's best filmbook of 1997 and now available in four languages, this is book which takes us into a process of learning how to look.