Nollywood Babylon
The Cinefamily - Los Angeles, CA
11/22/09

In the bustling, chaotic stalls of the Idumota Market of Lagos Island, Nigeria, amongst the farmers’ produce and the reams of fabrics, lies the second-largest film industry in the world. Outrageous, but true! The “Nollywood” film business churns out hundreds of no-budget films every month, tossing infidelity, comedy, prostitution, romance, corruption, voodoo, Islam and Christianity into an overflowing cauldron of nonstop gritty video that’s captivated the imaginations of tens of millions of Nigerians. Not only does Nollywood Babylon serve up a slew of killer clips from of the nation’s finest films, but it also follows the charismatic and adventurous Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen (a Nollywood cross between Fassbinder and Sam Fuller), as he fights his way through the production of his 157th (!) flick. His own journey is the Nollywood experience itself: scrappy, irreverent and altogether joyous.

Dirs. Ben Addelman & Samir Mallal, 2008, digital presentation, 74 min.

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Via The Cinefamily