Nigerian filmmakers have been complaining about cinemas sabotaging them by giving them terrible screen times or simply refusing to acknowledge their movies. People like Toyin Abraham and, most recently, Faithia Williams have complained about cinemas’ screentime affecting their viewership and making it difficult for their audiences, and it has us wondering, what exactly is the problem?
Some of the complaints that have been made by these filmmakers are:
- Unfavorable Screen Times
Filmmakers have complained that cinemas have developed a habit of pushing lower-budget Nollywood projects to timelines like 10pm. Which often dissuades their audience from actively trying to watch the film. This eventually affects not only their audience but also their viewership rates and the monetary value by the end of the screening date.
- Denying A Film Sales
Viewers have made complaints on social media of cinema staff lying to them that a film has left the cinema to try to get them to watch the film of another Nollywood filmmaker. This inadvertently causes the viewers to either leave or watch another film, thereby resulting in a loss of sale for the film they initially came to watch.
- Prioritising Higher Grossing Films
Cinemas are demand-driving spaces, and in a case where another film is making the cinema more money, it takes priority. This in turn affects the filmmakers who are struggling to get their movies seen, further lowering their viewership and visibility.
What Could Be The Reason Behind Cinemas Doing This?
There are a number of possible reasons behind cinemas sabotaging viewership for filmmakers, but at the centre of it are financial purposes. Here are a few possible reasons for why this happens:
- Infrastructure Deficiency
The Nigerian film industry is only still growing, and with a lot of high-quality, high-budget films coming into theatres with not enough screen time and cinema spaces to accommodate them, cinemas are forced to prioritise the films that give them the most value. Value in terms of earnings and visibility is a priority for cinemas.
- Financial Priority
For cinemas, the higher the quality of a project and the higher a filmmaker’s potential, the more the cinema can earn. However, it is important to note that the filmmaker’s popularity does not always come into play, as indie filmmakers sometimes produce films that garner huge viewership, prompting cinemas to prioritise their production.
- Performance On Opening Weekend
An important factor in how cinemas choose to promote a film is the film’s performance during the opening weekend. In rare cases, indie films with up-and-coming filmmakers do well on their opening weekend, leading to favourable, extended screen times.
- Established Fanbases
With big names in the industry, cinemas often expect a huge turnout, which pushes them to ensure these filmmakers have favourable screentimes. An established fanbase will always show up to support the work of their favourite filmmaker, and that, in turn, is a huge success for cinemas, which benefit from the strong turnout.
What do we think?
Although these decisions by cinemas are often detrimental to filmmakers who do not have as large an established fanbase or a great opening weekend, the priority for cinemas is their financial gain, not participating in fan wars. A respected figure in the Nollywood industry and a former chairman of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, Patrick Lee, addressed the controversy in 2025, stating that “the first week of a film’s release is crucial in determining its success.
Exhibitors prioritise a movie for premium slots if it performs exceptionally in its opening weekend.” So, to ensure that your favourite films stay in cinemas for a long time, it is important to prioritise supporting them during their opening week.
