A tour of Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry
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0:00 - 0:04I have a story, a story that I would like to share with you.
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0:04 - 0:06And it's an African story.
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0:06 - 0:12It is a story of hope, resilience and glamour.
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0:12 - 0:14There was Hollywood.
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0:14 - 0:16Then came Bollywood.
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0:17 - 0:24Today we have Nollywood, the third-largest film industry in the world.
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0:24 - 0:31In 2006 alone, almost 2,000 films were made in Nigeria.
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0:31 - 0:39Now, try to imagine 40, 50 films wrapped, distributed, every week
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0:39 - 0:44in the streets of Lagos, Nigeria and West Africa.
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0:44 - 0:50Some estimates put the value of this industry at 250 million dollars.
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0:50 - 0:56It has created thousands, if not tens of thousands of jobs.
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0:56 - 0:59And it's expanding.
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0:59 - 1:07But keep in mind that this was a grassroots movement.
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1:07 - 1:13This is something that happened without foreign investment,
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1:13 - 1:19without government aid, and actually, it happened against all odds,
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1:19 - 1:25in one of the most difficult moments in Nigerian economy.
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1:25 - 1:27The industry is 15 years old.
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1:29 - 1:33And so maybe you're thinking now,
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1:33 - 1:37why, how, an Italian filmmaker based in Boston
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1:37 - 1:40is so interested in this story?
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1:40 - 1:43And so I think I have to tell you just a few words,
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1:43 - 1:46a few things about my personal life,
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1:46 - 1:52because I think there is a connection.
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1:52 - 1:57My grandfather lived most of his life and is buried in Zambia.
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1:57 - 2:03My father also lived most of his adult life in East Africa.
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2:03 - 2:07And I was born in Zambia.
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2:07 - 2:09Even though I left when I was only three years old,
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2:09 - 2:14I really felt that Africa was this big part of my life.
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2:14 - 2:19And it really was a place where I learned to walk.
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2:19 - 2:23I think I uttered the first words,
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2:23 - 2:25and my family bought their first home.
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2:25 - 2:29So when we came back to Italy,
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2:29 - 2:32and one of the things that I remember the most
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2:32 - 2:36is my family having this hard time to share stories.
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2:36 - 2:39It seemed that for our neighbors and friends,
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2:39 - 2:45Africa was either this exotic place, this imaginary land
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2:45 - 2:48that probably exists only in their imagination,
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2:48 - 2:53or the place of horror, famine.
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2:53 - 2:57And so we were always caught in this stereotype.
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2:57 - 3:00And I remember really this desire to talk about Africa
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3:00 - 3:04as a place where we lived and people live and go about their lives,
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3:04 - 3:07and have dreams like we all have.
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3:07 - 3:13So when I read in a newspaper in the business page
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3:13 - 3:15the story of Nollywood,
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3:15 - 3:20I really felt this is an incredible opportunity to tell a story
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3:20 - 3:24that goes against all these preconceived notions.
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3:24 - 3:29Here I can tell a story of Africans making movies like I do,
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3:29 - 3:35and actually I felt this was an inspiration for me.
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3:35 - 3:39I have the good fortune of being a filmmaker-in-residence
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3:39 - 3:42at the Center of Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University.
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3:42 - 3:46And we really look how digital technology is changing,
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3:46 - 3:49and how young, independent filmmakers
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3:49 - 3:52can make movies at a fraction of the cost.
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3:52 - 3:54So when I proposed the story,
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3:54 - 3:58I really had all the support to make this film.
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3:58 - 3:59And not only had the support,
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3:59 - 4:04I found two wonderful partners in crime in this adventure.
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4:04 - 4:07Aimee Corrigan, a very talented and young photographer,
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4:07 - 4:10and Robert Caputo, a friend and a mentor,
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4:10 - 4:14who is a veteran of National Geographic,
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4:14 - 4:18and told me, "You know, Franco, in 25 years of covering Africa,
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4:18 - 4:21I don't know if I have come across a story
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4:21 - 4:25that is so full of hope and so fun."
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4:25 - 4:32So we went to Lagos in October 2005.
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4:32 - 4:35And we went to Lagos to meet Bond Emeruwa,
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4:35 - 4:40a wonderful, talented film director who is with us tonight.
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4:40 - 4:44The plan was to give you a portrait of Nollywood,
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4:44 - 4:47of this incredible film industry,
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4:47 - 4:51following Bond in his quest to make an action movie
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4:51 - 4:54that deals with the issue of corruption,
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4:54 - 4:56called "Checkpoint."
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4:56 - 4:58Police corruption.
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4:58 - 5:00And he had nine days to make it.
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5:00 - 5:02We thought this was a good story.
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5:02 - 5:05In the meantime, we had to cover Nollywood,
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5:05 - 5:07and we talked to a lot of filmmakers.
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5:07 - 5:09But I don't want to create too many expectations.
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5:09 - 5:13I would like to show you six minutes.
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5:13 - 5:17And these are six minutes they really prepared for the TED audience.
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5:17 - 5:20There are several themes from the documentary,
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5:20 - 5:22but they are re-edited and made for you, OK?
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5:22 - 5:25So I guess it's a world premier.
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5:25 - 5:27(Video)
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5:28 - 5:29Man: Action.
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5:36 - 5:43Milverton Nwokedi: You cut a nice movie with just 10,000 dollars in Nigeria here.
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5:43 - 5:45And you shoot in seven days.
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5:50 - 5:52Peace Piberesima: We're doing films for the masses.
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5:52 - 5:54We're not doing films for the elite
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5:54 - 5:56and the people in their glass houses.
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5:56 - 5:58They can afford to watch their "Robocop" and whatever.
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6:01 - 6:03Mahmood Ali Balogun: I think filmmaking in Nigeria, for those who work in it,
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6:03 - 6:07is a kind of subsistence filmmaking -- what they do to make a living.
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6:07 - 6:10It's not the fancy filmmaking where you say,
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6:10 - 6:13oh, you want to put all the razzmatazz of Hollywood,
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6:13 - 6:15and where you have big budgets.
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6:15 - 6:17Here is that you make these films,
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6:17 - 6:21it sells, you jump onto the location again to make another film,
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6:21 - 6:24because if you don't make the next film, you're not going to feed.
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6:31 - 6:35Bond Emeruwa: So while we're entertaining, we should be able to educate.
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6:35 - 6:39I believe in the power of audiovisuals.
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6:39 - 6:42I mean, 90 percent of the population will watch Nollywood.
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6:42 - 6:44I think it's the most viable vehicle right now
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6:44 - 6:47to pass information across a dedicated cable.
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6:47 - 6:50So if you're making a movie, no matter what your topic is,
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6:50 - 6:52put in a message in there.
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6:52 - 6:55Woman: You still have to report the incident.
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6:57 - 7:00He needs proper medical attention.
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7:00 - 7:02PP: I keep trying to explain to people,
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7:02 - 7:05it's not about the quality at the moment -- the quality is coming.
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7:05 - 7:09I mean, there are those films that people are making for quality,
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7:09 - 7:12but the first thing you have to remember about this society
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7:12 - 7:16is that Africa still has people that live on one dollar a day,
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7:16 - 7:18and these are the people that really watch these films.
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7:23 - 7:28Sonny McDon W: Nollywood is a fantastic industry
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7:28 - 7:32that has just been born in this part of the world.
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7:36 - 7:42Because nobody believed that Nollywood can come out of Africa.
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7:43 - 7:45Lancelot Imasen: But our films,
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7:45 - 7:48they are stories that our people can relate to themselves.
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7:48 - 7:51They are stories about our people, for our people.
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7:51 - 7:55And consistently, they are glued to their screen
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7:55 - 7:57whenever they see the story.
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8:00 - 8:03Narrator: Suspense, fun and intrigue.
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8:03 - 8:05It's the blockbuster comedy.
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8:05 - 8:07You'll crack your ribs.
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8:14 - 8:17Bernard Pinayon Agbaosi: We have been so deep into the foreign movies.
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8:17 - 8:19It's all about the foreign movies.
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8:19 - 8:21But we can do something too.
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8:21 - 8:24We can do something, something that when the world sees it,
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8:24 - 8:27they say, wow, this is Nigeria.
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8:30 - 8:32Man: Just arrest yourself, sergeant.
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8:32 - 8:34Don't embarrass yourself.
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8:37 - 8:40Come on. Don't run away. Come back. Come back.
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8:44 - 8:46SMW: You can now walk the street and see a role model.
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8:46 - 8:48It’s not just what you see in picture.
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8:48 - 8:50You see the person live.
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8:50 - 8:53You see how he talks. You see how he lives.
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8:53 - 8:55He influences you really good, you know.
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8:55 - 8:57It’s not just what you see in the picture.
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8:57 - 9:02It is not what you hear, you know, from the Western press.
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9:02 - 9:04Man: See you. Bye.
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9:06 - 9:08Action.
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9:09 - 9:14Saint Obi: I was so fascinated, you know, with those cowboy movies.
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9:14 - 9:18But then when I discovered the situation in my country,
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9:18 - 9:22at that time there was so much corruption.
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9:22 - 9:25For a young man to really make it out here,
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9:25 - 9:29you got to think of some negative things and all that,
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9:29 - 9:31or some kind of vices.
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9:31 - 9:34And I didn't want that, you know.
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9:34 - 9:39And I discovered that I could be successful in life as an actor,
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9:39 - 9:43without doing crime, without cheating nobody, without telling no lies.
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9:43 - 9:45Just me and God-given talent.
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9:56 - 9:57Man: Let's go.
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9:57 - 10:00OK, it's time to kick some ass.
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10:02 - 10:04Cover this. It's your own.
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10:05 - 10:06Move it.
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10:09 - 10:11Roboger Animadu: In big countries, when they do the movies,
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10:11 - 10:13they have all these things in place.
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10:13 - 10:17But here, we improvise these items, like the gunshots.
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10:17 - 10:19Like they go, here, now, now, you see the gun there,
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10:19 - 10:21but you won't see any guns shot, we use knock-out.
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10:23 - 10:26Kevin Books Ikeduba: What I'm scared of is just the explosion will come up in my face.
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10:26 - 10:28Woman: That's why I use enough masking tape.
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10:28 - 10:30The masking tape will hold it.
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10:30 - 10:32Wat, wait. Just hold this for me.
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10:35 - 10:37KBI: I'm just telling her to make sure she places it well
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10:37 - 10:39so that it won't affect my face -- the explosion, you know.
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10:39 - 10:42But she's a professional. She knows what she’s doing.
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10:42 - 10:44I'm trying to protect my face too.
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10:44 - 10:46This ain't going to be my last movie.
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10:51 - 10:53You know, this is Nollywood, where the magic lives.
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10:55 - 10:58RA: So now you're about to see how we do our own movies here,
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10:58 - 11:02with or without any assistance from anybody.
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11:02 - 11:03Man: Action.
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11:07 - 11:09Cut.
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11:09 - 11:15(Applause)
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11:15 - 11:17Franco Sacchi: So many things to say, so little time.
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11:17 - 11:19So many themes in this story.
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11:19 - 11:22I just can't tell you -- there’s one thing I want to tell you.
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11:22 - 11:27I spent, you know, several weeks with all these actors, producers,
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11:27 - 11:30and the problems they have to go through are unimaginable
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11:30 - 11:34for, you know, a Westerner, a filmmaker who works in America or in Europe.
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11:34 - 11:38But always with a smile, always with an enthusiasm,
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11:38 - 11:40that is incredible.
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11:40 - 11:42Werner Herzog, the German filmmaker said,
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11:42 - 11:47"I need to make movies like you need oxygen."
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11:47 - 11:49And I think they’re breathing.
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11:49 - 11:53The Nigerian filmmakers really, really, are doing what they like.
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11:53 - 11:57And so it's a very, very important thing for them,
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11:57 - 11:58and for their audiences.
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11:58 - 12:01A woman told me, "When I see a Nollywood film,
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12:01 - 12:05I can relax, I really -- I can breathe better."
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12:05 - 12:07There is also another very important thing
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12:07 - 12:09that I hope will resonate with this audience.
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12:09 - 12:12It’s technology. I’m very interested in it
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12:12 - 12:19and I really think that the digital non-linear editing has slashed, you know,
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12:19 - 12:21the cost now is a fraction of what it used to be.
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12:21 - 12:25Incredible cameras cost under 5,000 dollars.
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12:25 - 12:28And this has unleashed tremendous energy.
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12:28 - 12:30And guess what?
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12:30 - 12:32We didn’t have to tell to the Nigerian filmmakers.
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12:32 - 12:35They understood it, they embraced the technology
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12:35 - 12:37and they run with it, and they’re successful.
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12:37 - 12:42I hope that the Nollywood phenomenon will go both ways.
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12:42 - 12:47I hope it will inspire other African nations to embrace the technology,
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12:47 - 12:50look at the Nigerian model, make their films, create jobs,
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12:50 - 12:54create a narrative for the population, something to identify,
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12:54 - 12:57something positive, something that really is psychological relief
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12:57 - 12:59and it's part of the culture.
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12:59 - 13:04But I really think this is a phenomenon that can inspire us.
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13:04 - 13:06I really think it goes both ways.
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13:06 - 13:10Filmmakers, friends of mine, they look at Nollywood and they say,
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13:10 - 13:12"Wow, they are doing what we really want to do,
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13:12 - 13:15and make a buck and live with this job."
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13:15 - 13:16So I really think it’s a lesson
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13:16 - 13:18that we're actually learning from them.
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13:18 - 13:21And there's one thing, one small challenge that I have for you,
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13:21 - 13:25and should make us reflect on the importance of storytelling.
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13:25 - 13:28And I think this is really the theme of this session.
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13:28 - 13:40Try to imagine a world where the only goal is food and a shelter, but no stories.
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13:40 - 13:42No stories around the campfire.
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13:42 - 13:44No legends, no fairytales.
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13:44 - 13:46Nothing.
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13:46 - 13:48No novels.
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13:51 - 13:53Difficult, eh? It's meaningless.
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13:53 - 13:56So this is what I really think.
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13:56 - 14:00I think that the key to a healthy society
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14:00 - 14:02is a thriving community of storytellers,
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14:02 - 14:07and I think that the Nigerian filmmakers really have proved this.
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14:07 - 14:12I would like you to hear their voices.
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14:12 - 14:15Just a few moments.
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14:15 - 14:20It’s not an added sequence, just some voices from Nollywood.
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14:20 - 14:22(Video) Toyin Alousa: Nollywood is the best thing that can happen to them.
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14:22 - 14:26If you have an industry that puts a smile on people's face,
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14:26 - 14:28that’s Nollywood.
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14:28 - 14:31SO: I believe very soon, we’re not only going to have better movies,
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14:31 - 14:34we'll have that original Nigerian movie.
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14:34 - 14:36BE: It’s still the same basic themes.
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14:36 - 14:39Love, action.
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14:40 - 14:45But we're telling it our own way, our own Nigerian way, African way.
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14:46 - 14:51We have diverse cultures, diverse cultures, there are so many,
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14:51 - 14:54that in the natal lifetimes,
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14:54 - 14:58I don't see us exhausting the stories we have.
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14:58 - 15:05FS: My job ends here, and the Nollywood filmmakers really have now to work.
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15:05 - 15:08And I really hope that there will be many, many collaborations,
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15:10 - 15:12where we teach each other things.
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15:12 - 15:15And I really hope that this will happen.
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15:15 - 15:16Thank you very much.
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15:16 - 15:20(Applause)
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15:20 - 15:24Chris Anderson: Stop. I've got two questions.
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15:24 - 15:29Franco, you described this as the world's third largest film industry.
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15:29 - 15:32What does that translate to in terms of numbers of films, really?
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15:32 - 15:36FS: Oh, yes. I think I mentioned briefly -- it's close to 2,000 films.
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15:36 - 15:38There is scientific data on this.
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15:38 - 15:40CA: 2,000 films a year?
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15:40 - 15:43FS: 2,000 films a year. 2005 or 6,
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15:43 - 15:49the censor board has censored 1,600 films alone.
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15:49 - 15:51And we know that there are more.
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15:51 - 15:53So it’s safe to say that there are 2,000 films.
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15:53 - 15:55So imagine 45 films per week.
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15:55 - 15:57There are challenges. There are challenges.
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15:57 - 15:59There is a glut of film,
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15:59 - 16:02the quality has to be raised, they need to go to the next level,
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16:02 - 16:04but I’m optimistic.
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16:04 - 16:07CA: And these aren’t films that are primarily seen in cinemas?
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16:07 - 16:10FS: Oh yes, of course. This is very important.
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16:10 - 16:12Maybe, you know, for you to try to imagine this,
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16:12 - 16:18these are films that are distributed directly in markets.
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16:18 - 16:20They are bought in video shops.
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16:20 - 16:22They can be rented for pennies.
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16:22 - 16:23CA: On what format?
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16:23 - 16:26FS: Oh, the format -- thank you for the question. Yes, it's VCDs.
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16:26 - 16:29It's a CD, it's a little bit more compressed image.
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16:29 - 16:31They started with VHS.
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16:31 - 16:34They actually didn't wait for, you know, the latest technology.
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16:34 - 16:36They started in '92, '94.
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16:36 - 16:42So there are 57 million VCRs in Nigeria
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16:42 - 16:46that play, you know, VHS and these VCDs.
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16:46 - 16:48It's a CD basically. It's a compact disc.
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16:48 - 16:50CA: So on the streets, are film casts ... ?
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16:50 - 16:53FS: You can be in a Lagos traffic jam
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16:53 - 16:58and you can buy a movie or some bananas or some water. Yes.
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16:58 - 17:00(Laughter)
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17:00 - 17:04And I have to say, this really proves that storytelling,
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17:04 - 17:06it's a commodity, it's a staple.
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17:06 - 17:09There is no life without stories.
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17:09 - 17:11CA: Franco, thank you so much.
- Title:
- A tour of Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry
- Speaker:
- Franco Sacchi
- Description:
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Zambia-born filmmaker Franco Sacchi tours us through Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry (the world's 3rd largest). Guerrilla filmmaking and brilliance under pressure from crews that can shoot a full-length feature in a week.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 17:11
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