For Nigerian cinemas, at least.

A quick glance at the Silverbird Cinemas Ikeja schedule shows that a whopping 5 out of the 10 movies showing are Nigerian. If you haven’t been paying attention over the past few years, this is a feat.

Once upon a time the only Nigerian films to touch cinemas were the more “event” films which were few and far between, so to get to a point where literally half of the movies available at the cinema are from Nollywood.

Now, before we get too carried away, this is just one cinema after all. The Silverbird cinema in Victoria Island has only 2 Nigerian movies on offer, while Filmhouse in Surulere fares slightly better with 3 out of the 9 movies on its schedule being Nigerian.

All of this could be, of course, a function of the contentious distribution deals Nigerian filmmakers have no choice but to get into with cinema distributors, who, what do you know, are owned by cinema operators, and in some cases, happen to be financiers for the movies themselves.

And of course, there’s still the issue of how many of these movies will be chucked out after 2 weeks on the schedule, or how favourable the allotted time slots are.

But, baby steps, abi?

Media Blogger