“The plots are sentimental, the acting raw, and the cable-access editing not unlike that of an X-rated flick, minus the randy parts. Production values are deplorable; special effects leave much to the imagination. And it doesn't really matter, because the films still sell. Nigerians love their home videos, soft electronic jazz soundtracks and all.”
—from “Nollywood Confidential, Part 2”
TRANSITION 95: Table of Contents
DISPATCHES____________________
Lenox Terminal
Harlem: Capital of the 20th Century? For denizen and day-tripper alike, the black metropolis with the Dutch name
has always been as much a burden as a promise, where history
is the final destination. Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts makes a great migration.
The Golden Bough
In the 1980s, Sony Labou-Tansi was the greatest African
writer in the French-speaking world—a gentle man with
gleefully abrasive prose and an abiding hatred for dictators.
So why did he become an avatar of ethnic terror just before
his death? And what does St. Anthony of Padua have to do with it? Howard French treks across Congo in search of a literary legend.
FICTION____________________
The Seat of Power
It's hernia day at my house.
By Sony Labou Tansi
The Wide Boys
Jeepers peepers.
By George Makana Clark
BROADSIDE: NIGERIAN VIDEO FILM ____________________
Nollywood Confidential
When the oil boom went bust, so did the rest of Nigeria's economy—it seemed as if the country's once-flourishing cinema culture would among the casualties. Filmmakers couldn't afford to buy film from abroad; bankrupt theaters shut down for good. But thanks to a revolution in consumer electronics, West Africa's answer to Hollywood (and Bombay) is bigger than ever. These days, Nigeria's leading artists produce straight-to-video movies, produced on the cheap and sold in market stalls and kiosks. The movies sport sensational plots, hamfisted acting, and outrageous stereotypes—is it any surprise they're selling by the million?? Some critics bemoan the eclipse of Africa's high-art cinema. Others hail the birth of a new African popular culture. John C. McCall reports on black-market movies and the politics of pulp.
Nollywood Confidential, Part 2
How do you make a movie for $10,000, in seven days, and still enjoy lunchtime? A roundtable discussion on ways, means, and the muse of censorship, featuring director Zeb “Presido” Ejiro, actress Ajoke “Joke Silva” Jacobs, director Aquila “Whiz Kid” Njamah, and director Tunde “TK” Kelani, the elder statesman of Nigerian video film.
Moderated by Trenton Daniel