CINEMATIC GYMNASTICS: AN EVIDENCE OF GROWTH

A few years ago, Cinemas weren’t given much relevance within the nollywood industry because Nigerians held that our movies weren’t valuable enough  to spend a few hours or valuable money at the cinema watching it. To be fair, The kind of films produced then weren’t exactly good and so not held at high importance for obvious reasons.

Fast forward to a few years later, With Funke Akindeles and Timini Egbusons taking the stage, Nollywood got a lot more interesting and worth as much time as one would need to be in Cinemas.

The festive period and Christmas season is known as one of the best times to release films that stand a chance to become a  blockbusters or to quickly and easily grab the attention of Nigerians.

And as expected, this season was not an exception. Lots of cinema-only films have been released this past week with movies like Ahamefuna directed by Kayode Kasum and Drink starring Nancy Isime setting the Pace for an exhilarating ride within the 2023 Nollywood film season.

Films like “Blood Vessel” directed by Moses Inwang and “Breath of life” starring Wale Ojo and Chimezie Imo taking on the pace and setting new records, feelings and emotions within streaming sites and sectors. Many movies have given us a lot to say this season, but Blood Vessel and a tribe called Judah silently takes the lead and wears the crown

Coming back to the cinema gymnastics happening within the industry this season, about 12+ movies were released and are about to be released  to the cinemas this December, from the first day up to 29th, each gluing their viewers scene after scene and giving us a movie.

This is quite endearing and beautiful to watch because a few years ago, Cinemas weren’t even considered a place to go and watch Nollywood movies. Multiple blockbusters and amazing directors like Kunle Afolayin, Funke Akindele. Moses Inwang amongst others aims to change this narrative and is still working towards it, even if there is still an air of doubt around Nigerian movies in cinemas, we are glad this stereotype is gradually fading.

These multiple blockbuster worthy Films being released one right after another or on the same day, makes us wonder if it’s okay to declare a cinema war in the  Nollywood industry this season. Mercy Aigbe recently celebrated the success of Omo Daddy in cinemas grossing over N30 million in one weekend. And the legendary Funke Akindele’s most Anticipated Tribe called Judah hit a N60+ million mark within 48 hours of its release. High numbers and marks like this proves that nollywood films are found worthy of our time and money and also comfortably sits at a spot where more will be done in coming years.

These incidents and releases, whether war or not, serve as a goodness for Nollywood films and track record, and an evidence that Nigerians are beginning to enjoy home made movies that  truly and expressly tells our story.

Cinematic Wars or not, watching Nollywood evolve to this point is one of the most wholesome things happening in Nigeria.

By Miracle Marcus