Nollywood is Second largest film industry in the world - (UNESCO latest ranking)

The development of the Nigerian film industry has developed so much in the last years that is becoming closer to the amount of productions done in India, the global leader in movie production. The advances of the Nigerian film sector have been underlined by a UNESCO report. This study published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), states that Bollywood –popular name of the Mumbai-based film industry – produced 1,091 films in 2006, compared to the 872 productions created by Nollywood –Nigerian film industry. The United States’ number of production reaches 485 films in the same year. 56 per cent of Nollywood films are made in local languages, but English remains a strong language, which may contribute to Nigeria’s success in exporting its film industry. Development of video techniques has provoked a reduction of production costs and this has make possible the explosion of new film industries around the world, particularly in developing countries. Other big industries are represented by Japan –417 films-, China –330-, France –203-, Germany –174-, Spain –150-, Italy –116-, South Korea –110- and the United Kingdom -104-. According to UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, “Film and video production are shining examples of how cultural industries, as vehicles of identity, values and meanings, can open the door to dialogue and understanding between peoples, but also to economic growth and development.”

Even if it is acclaimed by the west that Two-thirds of its population lives on less than a dollar a day, yet Nigeria has the world's second-largest film industry. It's called Nollywood, and it provides Africa, and beyond, with a steady stream of action flicks and love stories.

Nollywood is the massive, pulsating film industry in Nigeria, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared the world's second-largest film industry, after India's Bollywood, based on the number of films produced. Shooting past Hollywood without the world noticing, Nollywood has made it to second place with films about family, love and honor, about AIDS, prostitution and oil, and about ghosts and cannibals.

In other words, films about Africa.

At least 900 films will be produced in Nigeria this year, twice as many as in Hollywood. Nollywood is a $200-million (€148-million) business in a country where 70 percent of the population still lives on less than $1 a day, where residents can consider themselves lucky if the power is on for two hours a day, and where raw sewage runs through open canals along the streets. It is a country known throughout the world for corruption, Internet fraud, prostitution and oil, but certainly not for its film culture.

Iroegbu is determined to change this. He wants to prevent corruption from taking hold of Nollywood and strangling it, as happens with almost all industries in Nigeria. He wants to make Nollywood visible to the rest of the world by promoting quality and creativity.

Iroegbu wants to win an Oscar for his country. That's the plan.

The center of Nollywood lies in the narrow streets crisscrossing the Alaba market in downtown Lagos. The streets are lined with hundreds of small shops, the ground is muddy and tattered posters for love and action films hang between decaying buildings. The men and women portrayed on the posters are heavily made-up and wear animal skins over their shoulders. The generators hum while the vendors hawk their wares. In the Alaba market, the films that filmmakers like Iroegbu produce every year are burned, packaged and distributed.

Giving Nigerians a Voice

Nollywood's success began in 1992, with the film "Living in Bondage." At the time, after years of recurring military coups, someone finally had the courage to address the subjects that related to ordinary people. The film is about a man who falls under the influence of a religious cult, and about money and black magic. At the same time, the film also suggests that the new wealth in Nigeria is the result of demonic practices -- and the source of inequality in the country and the suffering of too many people. "Living in Bondage" was liberating for people in Nigeria, because it meant that suddenly they had a voice. Hardly anyone in Nigeria today isn't familiar with the film.

Instead of showing their film in expensive cinemas, the producers distributed it as a so-called home video, which gave them access to a completely new market. Suddenly families could hold film evenings, with entire neighborhoods gathering around a single television set as if it were a campfire.

At its height, shortly after the end of the military dictatorship in 1999, Nollywood was flooding the African market with up to 2,000 films a year, and Surulere, the nightlife district in Lagos, became its creative center.

The road to Surulere leads down a four-lane highway exit, from which traffic is dispersed into smaller streets. A cacophony of car hors, shouting and failing engines fills the air. Surulere is a loud, Dionysian place, where actors, costume designers and screenwriters live, work and party. It's a place where actors are cast, a place to see and be seen -- and a street known as Winnies is something of a stage for it all.

Winnies was originally a simple guesthouse, a hangout for actors and filmmakers in the early days of Nollywood. Now the place is so popular that the entire street is called Winnies. Casting notices are pinned to the walls, specifying what the directors are looking for: "If you are fat, tall and speak various Nigerian languages fluently, call us. We are looking for a film production." Or: "Huge simultaneous casting call for 9 films."

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                        :http://creativecontent.unesco.org/news/item?item_id=89820