Making sense of nollywood Movies (Part 2, Complete Document)

Chapter One INTRODUCTION1.1 What is Nollywood?The ‘Nollywood’ appellation in simple words is an acronym for Nigerian movie industry,and so the films made by Nollywood or Nigeria Movie Industry are known as ‘Nollywoodmovies’. Nollywood movies became transnational phenomenon when the VCD/DVD copiesmoved across territorial boundaries to the homes of Nigerian immigrants abroad. How thefilms first reached overseas to Nigerians was when they were sold in countries where thereare settlements of Nigerian immigrants. Over time, the movies got cross-national attentionand were patronised by non-Nigerian viewers mostly from Africa and Afro-Caribbeancountries. It is interesting to note that since 2007, there has been growing internationalviewing of Nollywood films in the United States among Anglophone African and Afro-Caribbean countries. This is very interesting and worth investigating, because despite thatthese cross-sections of immigrants live in the USA and are in close proximity to Hollywoodmovies, which are far better in production and quality, notwithstanding, they are turningrapidly to seeing Nollywood films. This study’s essence therefore, is to find out what sensethe Diaspora Nigerians and non-Nigerians who view Nollywood movies in the USA make ofthe movies based on their experience with seeing the films.In other to carry out the study, this research has employed qualitative method to interview atotal of 15 participants from seven different African and Caribbean nations namely: Nigeria,Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Barbados. The participants were selectedbased on the criteria that they descriptively fit the definition of immigrants and diasporaaudience ad that they shared some identical socio-cultural, racial, historical, and politicalantecedents. The interview participants are classified into three groups of A (Nigerians), B(other Africans) and C (Caribbeans). These varieties of nationality of subjects are chosen soas to compare how nationality features in the viewing of Nollywood movies in the USA. Thestudy will make findings on the implications of viewing Nollywood movies by African andCaribbean immigrants in the United States.. Furthermore, the study will among other things,find out if, the manner in which Nollywood movies is viewed are in terms of resuscitatingnostalgia, cultural affiliations and values affectation among these Diaspora audiences withshared identical socio-cultural antecedents.

1.2 Background of Study:‘Nollywood’ appellation is derived after Hollywood (American movie industry) andBollywood (Indian movie industry), literally, it means ‘Nigerian Movie Industry’. Literally,Nigerian Movie Industry means “made-in-Nigeria movies by Nigerian production team forthe Nigerian people” (Mbamara, 2005). The popularity of prominent studies on howtelevision and video are being used to re-create cultural traditions was first carried out onBollywood Indian film amongst diaspora Indians residing outside India. However, thepopularity of Nigerian video films first, amongst diasporic Nigerians and later, amongst othernon-Nigerian outside their country of origin particularly in far way continents like Europeand North America urged the researcher of this study to develop a fresh investigation on: (1) Why a cultural narrative film genre as Nollywood should become so famous to Nigerians and non-Nigerians particularly in the United States where Hollywood movies are readily available to them and (2) What sense do the Nigerian and non-Nigerian community in the USA make of these movies based on their experience with seeing the films.Before the 21st century, several studies have revealed that cultural memory occupies anintegral part of the use of collective media (particularly the film media) by Diasporiccommunity (Detokunbo-Bello, 2007). In the 21st Century, It is observed that members ofthese groups demonstrate compassion and pride each time they individually or commonlyexperienced viewing their traditional films on television, video or at the cinema. Academicattention has shifted rapidly towards Audience/Reception studies on this area of narrativesand cultural forms as a result of this phenomenological development (Detokunbo-Bello,2007).Research studies on Nollywood became an international phenomenon when the moviesstarted selling across continental boundaries. This is particularly glaring in the United Stateswhere there is a large settlement of immigrants from Anglophone African and Afro-Caribbean countries, where Nollywood films have gotten booming viewing. There are manyplaces in USA like Brooklyn and Waterbury, which have densely populated Black Afro andCaribbean communities, where there are stalls selling Nollywood DVDs and some of these

shops are owned by non-Nigerians especially Indians. This development attests to the factthat Nollywood films’ popularity amongst diasporic communities in USA is blossoming.This seems significant considering the varieties of culture of different peoples from diffusedmulticultural societies of black diaspora in the USA.In 2007, the cable TVs on the satellite channels and the Internet such as AFROTAINMENT,MOVIEAFRICACHANNEL, BEN TV, NOLLYWOODMOVIES TV, AFRICANMAGIC,WWW,BUNIBUNI.COM WWW.DIGITALTVFREE.COM, WWW.TVOVER.NET,WWW.BVONMONEY.COM, WWW.NOLLYWOOD.NET among others began capitalising onthis phenomenon by showing wide range of African films and TV to audiences in the UnitedStates, and the vast majority of their programming is from Nollywood. What is responsiblefor this development? Is it that the Hollywood films no longer appeal to the taste of thesetarget audiences?The fact that the audio signal in nearly all Nigerian films are shot in English might be a corereason for the wide patronage among these viewers. This is perhaps because these viewersare all non-native English speakers and tend to appreciate the language of the movies,Nevertheless, it was suggested by earlier researches on Nollywood’s impact on the AfricanDiaspora in the UK (London) that some of the movies are introducing African cultures andvalues which are nonexistent in the UK so that Africans in Diaspora are able to connect totheir tropical cultural values (Omoniyi 2008; Detokunbo-Bello, 2007). Perhaps this may alsobe the case in the United States or perhaps not. This research will make findings on this.Moreover, this research will make comparative analysis of the responses gotten from theselect group of individual interviewees from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Jamaica,Bahamas and Barbados. This study uses a total of fifteen interviewees from these variouscountries. This research will analyse the interviewees’ responses to serve as guide in makinga logical judgment for drawing conclusion. The research’s conclusion will make assertionson whether there exist similar or differed reasons between Nigerians and non-Nigerians forwatching Nollywood movies. Additionally, this research will analyse the inferences fromresponses of the individual interviewees to provide insights on how the Nollywoodphenomenon impacts on people with differed national identity.

1.3 Statement of the Problem:At the turn of 2006, Nollywood movies began to gain more viewing patronage in homes ofDiaspora Anglo-African communities in countries like Great Britain, Canada and the UnitedStates. In these countries, particularly in the United States where there are large settlementof African emigrants from Anglophone African countries, it is now a subject of criticaldiscussion about the presence of Nigerian films there. In 2007, two American documentariesWelcome to Nollywood and This is Nollywood were released in attempt to capture thegrowing phenomenon of Nollywood movies.Ever since then, Nollywood movies have gained popularity among communities of Anglo-Africans in the USA to the extent that other Blacks with African ancestry such as theEnglish-speaking Afro-Caribbean from the West Indies are succumbing to the habit of seeingmore of Nollywood movies. This is despite that they live in the United States where there isabundance of Hollywood movies, which are supposedly more popularly viewed in the USAin particular and in the world in general. Notwithstanding, some African and Caribbeanimmigrants in the United States are turning rapidly to seeing films from Nollywood.Before the influx of Nollywood films into the United States, Hollywood movies have beenthe most widely viewed movies within the USA. Initially, the global audience includingimmigrants to the USA had watched more of Hollywood films. However, in early 1970sother films such as Chinese and Indian movies penetrated into the USA and the globalterrain. Though these two genres of films were seen around the world, but it was the Indianmovie that was able to break the monopoly of Hollywood movies around the world as thefilms were shown on big screen cinemas in many countries including the USA and across theworld. Interestingly, Indian movies appealed a great deal to the Indian immigrants residingoutside India.The coming of the Indian movies introduced Bollywood to the world and Bollywood got theattention of the world from the 1970s to 1990s. Subsequently, a lot of research studies wereconducted on the Bollywood phenomenon. However, at the turn of 2006 attention starteddrifting to African movies which were actually made in Nigeria. This was largely due to thefact that African immigrants wherever they were settled started taking to seeing more of the

African movies from Nigeria. Many non-Nigerians did not know where the movies camefrom but they simply just enjoyed seeing them and referred to them as ‘African movies’.Nowadays in the USA, it is interesting to observe that Anglo-African and Afro-CaribbeanDiaspora communities are patronising more African film brand from Nollywood.For these immigrant communities in the United States to be patronising Nollywood moviesthat are coming from Nigeria, a Third World country in Africa provides grounds forinvestigating the cause of this behaviour. Against this backdrop, this research will find out towhat extent this novel phenomenon enables the select groups of immigrants who will beinterviewed connect with the movies and to what uses they put the film to after seeing it.1.4 Purpose of the Study:The consumption of Nollywood films by immigrants and minority groups in Westerncountries is one indices of how such Diaspora groups negotiate their place in their chosencountries of abode. Research has shown that such consumption has a tendency to penetrateinto the socio-cultural life of the country of immigration beyond the initial confines ofminority consumption (Ugochukwu, 2008). Nollywood films present such a possibility in itspresent stage. It remains to be seen whether the Nollywood phenomenon comes to parallelthe Bollywood phenomenon which projected Indian movies to the world even to non Indians.If so, in what distinct ways has that occurred? This research is particularly interestingbecause it will not only focus on for what purpose and use Nigerian immigrants in the UnitedStates see Nollywood movies, but as well on the reason non-Nigerian emigrants from Africaand the Caribbean Islands to the United States are becoming accustomed to seeingNollywood movies without having any phylogenetic relation to Nigeria. This research willgo a step further to analyse the behaviour of the three groups of interviewees so as tocompare their given reasons for patronising Nollywood movies.At any rate, the issues that are relevant to this research project include:(i) The contributions, if any, that Nollywood films make to the film preferences of viewers inthe United States (ii) The extent if any, to which the growing and wider reach of Nollywood films haveaffected their behaviours and lifestyles.

(iii) If there is interplay of the ways nationality features in the Nollywood moviesconsumption in the United States.While the research study will investigate the foregoing aspects in general, in particular, thestudy will conclude its findings on the impact Nollywood films have on the select categoriesof viewers in the United States with recourse to the way and manner in which the movies areseen, appreciated and appropriated.1.5 Relevance of Research:The appeal of this research is contextualised in terms of theoretical suppositions that supportaudience behavioural change due to occurring phenomenon. The phenomenon of Nollywoodmovies and the emerging behaviours of the select group of viewers for this research is thehallmark of this study. The research is significant because it will highlight theoreticalsuppositions relevant to Diaspora audience and media uses. Specifically, the study will: • Help to explain how mediated media content such as film creates forum for Diaspora identity and affinity. • Provides grounds to learn why Diaspora audiences are seeing Nollywood movies. This will be particularly relevant to researchers and Hollywood filmmakers. • Provide information for Nollywood practitioners on how to develop movies for increased patronage.1.6 Research Questions:Due to the fact that this study is a qualitative analysis of an occurring behavioural tendencyof select group of individuals, it is necessary to put forward salient questions that the studywill seek to find answers to. This is even so because there is need to make the findings of thestudy as broad as possible to accommodate the diversity of comments from the interviewees.As corollary, the questions put forward in this study include: 1. Does Nollywood movies have impact on Diaspora audience regarding to culture? 2. Does ‘nationality’ feature in the Nollywood movies consumption in the United States?

3. Does seeing Nollywood movie in the United States influence the social behaviour of viewers? 4. Does viewing Nollywood movie induce less patronage of other movies available in the United States?1.7 Theoretical Framework:In this study, Nigerian films will be viewed through relevant theoretical frameworks that arerooted in the intervening mediations between community life, cultural representation andmedia. The rational for choosing theories for this study is guided by the variables of the studyand occurring mass media phenomenon. These variables include the people (nationals)selected for interview, their behaviour (viewing habit) and the occurring phenomenon ofNollywood movies. The selection of the interviewees of this research focuses on a trio groupof individuals with shared socio-ethnic and historic socio-political identity status as well assome cultural similarities, against this backdrop, it is appropriate to use theories thatrepresent the socio-ethnography of the social group in focus of this study. Consequent uponthat, the theoretical suppositions that will serve as guide and that will be relevant for thisstudy are drawn from studies on (1) culture, (2) identity and (3) the film media.Culture relates to the content of the movies being a tool for purveying customs, norms,values and beliefs that the viewers find relevant. Identity is in terms of the formation of theinterviewees when grouped as audience or as a race. This categorisation is important becauseit will enable better understanding of behaviour. Transnational film is in terms of the filmgenre (which Nollywood movies represent). As Nollywood movies are seen in different wayranging from DVD copies, cable TV and the Internet, it therefore implies that the audiencemust seek out the medium where they can see the movies and depend on such medium forcontinual patronage of their preferred choice of movies. In the context of this study, culture anchors on the interviewees’ background; identityfocuses on their individual cultural philosophies when grouped as audiences and the mediahere is specifically inclined toward the film genre. That being the case, the theoreticalapproaches for this study will include the culture, identity and transnational film. The first

two theories - culture and identity theories will focus on how audience background andshared identity could influence them. Whereas, the third theory - transnational film willexplain the phenomenon of Nollywood movies.1.8 Culture Theory:The emergence of Nollywood films as a cultural phenomenon, and Nigerian movies being amicro representation of African culture in the macrocosm of holistic African cultures, hence,culture approach in this study attracts diverse array of theories, associated practices andwhich encompass many different approaches, methods, and academic perspectives. Theapproach remains relatively structured in the academic field to understanding how culturaldimensions enter consumption, usefulness and production functions of various kinds(Harrison and Huntington, 2001). With regards to sociology and communication, culturetheory features in cultural studies on the interface of society to explain how essentiallyculture purveyance places primary importance on the institutions that are involved in theproduction, dissemination, and consumption of culture (Serrat, 2008).Notably, culture theory strengthens the expectation that societies work, not because they arecomprised of autonomous individuals who are free of social sanctions but because they arepowered by social beings and their distinctive ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge thatcontributes to understanding and promoting development of individualism where grouprelationships predominate (Serrat, 2008). What constitutes perimeter for asserting socialidentification for group of people attests to the beliefs in cultures that such group of peopleshare in common. Such cultures are usually formed through belonging to a nation or race.Fanon (1967:178-179) maintains that: “culture is the whole body of efforts made by a peoplein a sphere of thought to describe, justify, and praise the action which that people has createditself and keeps itself in existence”. Consequently, the interplay between race, ethnicity, andnation is central concern for understanding cultural identity analysis in contemporary culturalstudies.In light of the foregoing, it is assumed when the national cultures in different countries takeplace in similar paradigms, peoples from these countries will therefore find platform one wayor other to patronise, celebrate or identify with their cultures (Fanon, 1967:178-179). This is

because according to Hall (1990), the traditional way of thinking about cultural identity is interms of peoples’ shared culture, a sort of collective of “‘one’s true self and one’s shared selfwith others” (Hall, 1990). Thus various cultural studies and social theories have investigatedthe cultural identity and there are modern questions of culture that are transferred intoquestions of identity.Notwithstanding, there has being transnational movement and mixing of cultural identifiersdue to emigration caused by migration, exile and displacement. The movement processes ofcultural dynamics outside the restrictions imposed by nationally defined landmarks removesthe limits to perceptions of shared cultures to nations and nationalities (Gilroy, 1987). This iseven so because cultural practices are symbolic to peoples’ ways of life and when peoplemove, they carry their cultural practices along. For this reason, cultural practices can movefrom defined enclaves of geographical boundaries to external zones and it is in this light thatwe may begin to understand the formation of convergence of similar Diaspora cultures.Culture convergence approach encompasses the symbolic convergence theory, whichaccording to (Bormann, 1972), is used to explore and explain similarities between movie“myths”, “opinions”, “trend”, “fantasy”, dealing with the use of narrative in communication(Littlejohn & Foss, 2005). According to Griffin (1991: 34); “through symbolic convergence,individuals build a sense of community or group consciousness” (Littlejohn & Foss, p.158).This theory suggests that perhaps repeated exposure to the myths and themes of Nollywoodmovies, Nigerian cultures should influence an individuals perceptions of African culture as awhole (Onuzulike, 2007).Lavie and Swedenburg (1996) argue that “there is no ‘immutable link’ between cultures,peoples, or identities and specific places, yet the most common manifestation of one’sotherness in an alien culture is a question one encounters from time to time: (i.e. where areyou from?), not ‘who/what are you?” (Lavie and Swedenburg, 1996). It follows that anexplanation of one’s identity of origin or birth leads to a certain signifying way of fathomingthe socio-ethno category or identity of a person in Diaspora. Such encounter is common tothe Anglo African and Afro-Caribbean Diasporas in the United States who are thespringboard for this qualitative study. Therefore, on the formation and development of

diasporic identities and their retention, it is imperative to theorise further from theperspective of identity theory with particular recourse to socio-cultural approach.Subsequently, the identity theory will be used to explain further.1.9 Identity Theory Approach:There are various potentially salient parameters for describing identities, they include: age,gender, nationality, political orientation, sexual orientation, spirituality, socioeconomicstatus, race, ethnicity, social mobility, language, music, dance, dressing, etc. These are allcultural identities which are negotiated, co-created, reinforced, and challenged throughcommunication (Hall, 1990) because culture is holistic and globes the needs common to allpeople with similar primary socialisation. There are other more superficial or artificiallyimposed ‘shared selves’ which people with a shared history, ancestry or dynasty hold incommon. This ‘shared selves’ is the harbinger for the feeling of ‘oneness’ among peopleeven when there exist different sociological identifiers such as language, nationality, gender,religion, among others. Therefore, underlying all the other superficial differences, in truth, isthe essence of “being African and the black experience” (Fanon, 1963). It is this identity of‘being black’ that “blacks in Diaspora must discover, excavate, bring to light and express…”(Hall, 1990).Such a “conception of ethnic identity played crucial role in the postcolonial struggles”(Fanon, 1963) during the indigenisation process of colonised states in former Britishcolonies. However, Hall (1990) suggests that it is better to envision a cultural identity, onebased on “not the rediscovery but the production of identity. Not an identity grounded in thearchaeology, but in the re-telling of the past” (Hall, 1990). Such a viewpoint would entailacknowledging that this is an act of imaginative rediscovery, one which involves imposing animaginary coherence on the experience of dispersal and fragmentation, which is the historyof all enforced Diasporas (Hall, 1990). From this point of view, ethnic affinity is tandem tocultural identity because both concept are aspects of “becoming as well as of being” (Hall,1990), and belong not only as much to the past, but as well to analysing the present andunderstanding the future.

Moreover, to connect culture and identity in this research, the concept of identity illustratesthe various ways in which people view themselves in the context of specific or broadsocieties. It also allows us to think about how individuals who are part of a larger group areinfluenced by their affiliation with and participation in that group. That is, individuals’identity frames are also strongly influenced by their affiliation with particular ethnic group,racial background, place of birth, or place of primary educationand by participation in a particular cultural or sub-cultural group (Robert, 2003).It is in this light that patronage of culture purveying media such as films from Nollywood byaudiences with shared culture identifiers may do so because they are influenced by theiraffiliation and engagement with the content of the films. Therefore, it follows that whenvarious viewers of diverse nations form the habit of seeing certain types of movies becausethey have become available, they perhaps do so because they find meaning in the filmcontent or perhaps the film content makes sense to them. Since Nollywood movies presentdelectation for various nationals from diverse national geographical landscapes particularlyfrom African and Caribbean countries, it is necessary to overview these peoples later in thestudy so that the cultural identity connection between them may be established.Cultural identities come from somewhere because they have histories. But like everythingwhich is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed insome essential past, they are subject to the continuous play of history, and sharedexperiences. The ability to reminisce on past experiences, Hall (1990) stresses is done by aset of “peoples with shared cultural or social identifiers”. Knowledge is not imposed butshared due to the power of inner compulsion and subjective conformation to the norm (Hall,1990). Hence, from this perspective, it must be acknowledged that cultural identity makespossible for people whether in whole or parts, to focus on contexts and contents; on valuesand value systems; and on strategic relationships (Rummens, 2001).People may frame the same or different meaning in different ways towards a particularculture phenomenon based on interests and needs. However, since individual beliefs stemfrom being member to a larger cultural identity group, individuals are likely to use a framethat prioritises their membership to a group (Robert, 2003). Between blocs of countries,human beings and the natural environment, cultural identity yields conceptual insights and

practical benefits and allows informed choices and intelligent decisions to be made by thepeople. It enables individuals, for instance, to deal better with complexity and thedisintegration of social norms governing behaviour, thought, and social relationships. And italso helps to ensure that peoples’ rationale for behaviour are contextualised properly andpointed in the right direction. Consequently, it helps people to function better as self-governing entities.Likewise, by focusing on the totality and innate worth of a given society, cultural identitytheory can minimise the ethnocentric bias that results from one’s cultural conditioning(Rummens, 2001). This makes people motivated to maintain or enhance a positive sense ofsocial identity, “but the way in which this occurs is directed and constrained by theindividual’s beliefs about the legitimacy and stability of the group the individual belongs toand the individual’s degree of identification with the group” (Reid, 2008). From empiricaland theoretical advances in the field of research studies, the cultural identity theory has beenexpanded and elaborated to explain the rationale of individual behaviour when they belong toa group or race.Hall (1990) espouses that the traditional way of thinking about cultural identity is in terms of“one’s shared culture, a sort of collective ‘one’s true self’, i.e. hiding inside the many mirrorsof one’s background (Hall, 1990). All the same, we can deduce that before individuals candevelop social identities for themselves, particularly as peoples’ identity can only be derivedfrom belonging to a defined social system such as a group, race, family or class, then perhapsthe identity of each member belonging to any social system will be dependent on the culturalorientation that pertain to the social or ethnic system they belonged to.Thus by theorising identity as constituted, not from outside but why the representation of theindividual, hence, the choice made by individuals when they select entertainments such ascinema and TV programming will be influenced by what already exists in them in form ofimbibed norms’. And this enables us to understand the rationale for the preferred choicesmade by certain group of Diaspora subjects for Nollywood movies. In the light of theforegoing deduction, we may now fathom why emigrants from Africa and Afro-Caribbean

countries who reside and work in metropolises of United States for economic or otherpurposes are chosen as case study for this research.In recent decades, a new form of identification has emerged, this new form of identificationbreaks down the understanding of the individual as a coherent whole subject to a collectionof various cultural identifiers. These cultural identifiers examine the condition of the subjectfrom a variety of aspects including: place, gender, race, history, nationality, language, sexualorientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity and aesthetics (Serrat, 2008). Given that the collectiveparticipants of interviewees in this research include (1) Nigerians, (2) other AnglophoneAfricans, and (3) Anglophones from Caribbean countries, there are socio-cultural identifierswhich link them together. These include: common racial identities (Blacks), Britishcolonialism experience, common language (English), common religion (primeval paganismand adopted Christianity), and common heritage of slavery experience and some basicsimilar modes of greeting and dressing. The foregoing identifiers create grounds for selectingand grouping them for the study.1.10 Transnational Film Theory:This theory follows from Audience/Reception and televised video or moving pictures (Stam,2000). It explains how viewing experience of individuals when they see motion pictures oncommon electronic media such as television, cinemas or Internet shifts to find and depend onmedium that hold in store program and content that catch their attention (Chaffee and Berger,1997). Transnational films developed within film studies that cover the theories relating tothe effects of globalisation upon the cultural and economic aspects of film. It incorporates thedebates and influences of post-nationalism, post-colonialism, consumerism and Third worldcinema (Ugochukwu, 2008). Transnational cinema as argued were creative cultural productsto supersede national boundaries to show cultural representations to dispersed ethnicpopulations, which are often termed Diaspora people.One salient argument of transnational film is the necessity for a redefinition. It does not referonly to the concept of a national cinema to hold sway the interest of dispersed nationalsabroad as was first posited by earlier studies. As the concept of identity became furtherdefined more by social identifiers as class, economic status, sexuality, gender, generation,

religion, ethnicity, political belief, culture, etc than nationality, the emergence of theappellation ‘imaginary community’ was formed to describe many separate and fragmentedcommunities but who participate in shared behaviours (Anderson, 1991). If we see the filmmedia as a culture purveyor, as a result, we may fathom why “an individual who finds amedium for having his or her needs fulfilled, will attach more importance to that medium anddepend on it for fulfillment of his or her media uses and gratification” (DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach, 1976).The film medium in the context of this study as earlier stated is Nollywood films which aremade in Nigeria. Though there is plethora of movies that are able to cut across nationalborders like the Hollywood and Bollywood movies, this study will limit its emphasis toNollywood films. This is particularly because Nollywood movies according to Motiki (2006)are gaining popularity among the fast-growing African immigrant populations, offering theirmuch westernised children a glimpse of African life, particularly the clash of modernity andtraditionalism (Motiki, 2006:1). This is because consumption of Nollywood films and theNollywood cable channels has become evidently notable among the black African Diasporacommunities dispersed around the globe.Robins (2003: 189) explains that transnational distribution of films was, in fact, a significantcultural catalyst; the reason is because migrants in whatever country they abode, due towatching indigenous films programming beamed from satellite TV from back home, were“becoming progressively dissociated from social life of the society where they reside”.Consequently, “transnational films were held to be a threat to the …unity and integrity of thehost culture” (Robins, Ibid: 190).Supporting Robins, Meyrowitz (1986) says because “transnational film merged socialspheres and severed the traditional links between physical places; they have created place-less cultures which offer Diasporas around the world new resources and new disciplines forthe construction of imagined selves and communities” Meyrowitz, 1986). Therefore, throughthe proliferation of transnational film, what has now become crucial for the recipientaudiences is the need to be above ignorance of their community of origin and to becomeexposed with cultural roots from their homelands. The agenda here is all about the protectionof national culture - about sustaining the integrity of the cultural heritage. “Deterritorialised

people even when scattered through different lands, may still be devotees and long-distancepatriots to their cultural identities…” (Verhulst, Ibid).Consequent on the fact that this research work highlights how the Nigerian movie industryshowcases African culture, we must be “reminded that film as a powerful medium ofentertainment is a very good medium for the transmission of cultural values” (Orewere,1992: 206). The convergence of media on the Internet which allowed film programmingonline built up new virtual geographies that offered migrants new kind of experience towatch movies on the Internet has created platform which offer Diaspora peoples around theworld to see films that provide cultural recreation to them. Therefore, through the creationand proliferation of video films that could move transnationally, Diaspora audiences havebecome more exposed with cultural antecedents from their homelands. The agenda here isthat, it is no longer farfetched nowadays to find migrants in foreign host lands fostering thecultures of their original nation instead of that of the national communities where they reside.(Robins, Ibid: 190).Supporting the foregoing, Robins (Ibid: 192) reiterates Benedict Anderson’s characterisationof “root cultures as imagined communities” which are “bonded discursively by a sense ofdeep … imagined common origin and a mythical past”. Robins, with inferences fromVerhulst (Ibid), further argues that “the imaginations of deterritorialised people, even whenscattered through different lands, may be marked correspondingly by absentee patriotism andlong-distance nationalism” if “diasporic groups are… with the tools of developingcommunication technology…to maintain their identities…”. Thus the developing andglobalisation of communication technology such as film has helped to sustain rise of local ornational culture in the global scenario.On the other hand, Aksoy and Robins (2003) argue that transnational film consumptionpromotes de-ethnicisation and frees the migrant from the pincers of a ‘frozen image’ of thehomeland (Aksoy and Robins 2003:4-5, 36). They suggest that the habit of transnational filmviewing, places migrants in an “ironic stance to cultures”, and far from reinforcing longdistance national identities it fosters an experience of “moving beyond the frame of nationalsociety”. Their argument is based on the assumption that “what is conceived in terms of de-

territorialisation of migrant cultures is related to the emergence of new hybrid identities andnew cosmopolitan possibilities” (Robins, Ibid: 192) for the migrant communities.All transnational film entertainment seeks to ingrain the feeling of long-distance patriotism torespective migrants to their communities of origin. This spectacular of course, is the bedrockof an initiative to catapult national cultural identity even to the lost sheep. The transnationalmovement of film may thus be described as the voice of the shepherd crying out to get theattention of the strayed sheep (migrant) in the wilderness (foreign land).Earlier studies on globalisation of national cultures on transnational film media portrayedglobalisation as the suppressing of national cultures by the Western culture- what wasreferred to as: ‘cultural imperialism’. Western culture, particularly of the United States waspopularised by the American transnational distribution of Hollywood films which dominatedthe global until other nations were able to come up with their movies. With the emergence oftransnational film media from other nations, it became possible to break the monopoly ofcultural imperialism which America had enjoyed for decades.Iwabuchi (2002) supports that; the globalisation of transnational films generated the de-centring of Western (U.S.) cultural hegemony. Non-Western players now actively collaboratein the production and circulation of global film commodities… (Iwabuchi, 2002: 554- 555).Furthermore, the predominance of Western (U.S.) culture has been seriously challenged bythe intensification of intraregional cultural flows and connections in the non-West.Transnational film media from other nations proliferated with a different agenda and changedthe rule of the game.Unlike the American movies which sought to brainwash the global populace with Americanculture, the upcoming cinema from other nations targeted their media messages at dispersedcommunities in Diaspora. This calculated strategy from other nations created a new order inthe globalisation of culture and the migrants or diasporic communities were simply the pivotaround which the transnationally distributed films revolve their messages. The significanceof the interface between how transnationally circulated films connect with the migrantpopulations and the role it plays in the contemporary global era with contemporary global

flows of mass-mediated imagery and discourses creates “a new order of stability in theproduction of modern subjectivities” (Appadurai, 2004: 4).For example, if we recall the impact of satellite cable TV in the broadcasting of transnationalfilms to diaspora communities as an instance, it became possible that Turkish migrants inGermany are able to watch Turkish films on TRT-INT satellite TV from Ankara in theirGerman homes; Brazilians in San Francisco are able to see Brazilian theatre through TV-GLOBO satellite feeds from Brasilia, and Hispanos scattered all over South America are ableto watch Mexican soaps on TELEVISIA from Mexico, as Nigerians in USA, Canada, UK, andsome parts of Europe are able to see movies from Nigeria on cables such as NOLLYWOODTV, AFROTAINMENT, etc. These examples are reflections of how film from the homelandmeets their deterritorialised viewers.The above situation in turn, functions to produce and sustain the evolution of new diasporicpublic spheres that transcend the scope of conventional nation-state. “The role of film inarticulating the dispersed members of the nation to the centres of symbolic power is crucialhere” (Morley, 2000:107). What this emphasizes is that, film capitalises on the consequencesof national and cultural identification very well to sway the people to being part and parcel of‘their ‘nation and culture’ distance notwithstanding. The glaring effect of this is thatdiasporic members stampede to seek affinity with their respective cultural backgroundbecause ‘films’ seem to have some kind of absolute force for not only to rousing patriotismto cultures of one’s homeland but nostalgia as well.It is possible nowadays to find migrants in foreign host lands fostering the primary culturesof their countries of origin instead of that of the national communities where they reside. Thisis so because of the transnational broadcasting and circulation of films from homeland, whichhas extended the notion of cultural consciousness and patriotism to the cultural identity of theBlack diaspora nationals abroad.

Chapter Two EMPIRICAL OVERVIEW2.1 Literature Review:The world is now at the point where interaction between local, national and global isincreasing in crescendo. Customary enclaves like cultures, communities, nations or eventerritories that previously restricted transplanetary flow of diverse social exchanges hasbecome permeable. Thus there has been dispersion of people that were originally localisedeven in their migratory capacity to develop mental spaces within their minds to retain theirimagined real identity despite being members to new communities. Thus they would creatediasporic affinity to their root culture in spite of being surrounded by alien cultures.Diasporic affinity to root culture would not be effectively sustained if there were notransnational media such as printed materials (such as newspapers and books), satellite TVand video films to help the Diaspora communities become ingrained with their roots. As aconsequence, sub national identities are created by shifting national identity to the Diaspora.The body of migrants outside their community of origin is often perturbed with nostalgia andrash inclination to becoming affiliated to their roots.What is responsible for this can be deduced from the description of “mental space”. That is,how people imagine and assent to belonging to a certain community and not to other (RobertYoung, 1994). However, what creates the choice community a person belongs to is perhapsdetermined by the imagined syndrome derived from the cultural artifacts that are practiced bythe community where they hail from. The individual is influenced by the concept of nationalidentity built from inside and thrust upon him or her from outside insofar there is pre-existence of communities’ cultural artifacts such as language, religion and dynastic realms(Anderson, 1991; Robins, 2003).Furthermore, Anderson (1991) suffices all these imagining syndrome to stem from devotionto the interests or culture of the nation by its members (whether far or near) which he said areoutcome of cultural consciousness. Cultural consciousness therefore makes national societiesor imagined communities have it as priority to conscientise members to remain in solidarity

with their cultural values. To achieve this, Verhulst (1999) said “Diasporic groups have nowfound medium of communication to maintaining their identities, whether they are defined byreligious fervour, ethnic pride, economic ambition or historic places of origin by establishingsupportive or interactive communities…” (Verhulst, 1999:30-31). As a corollary,communications media are developed and used to hold sway the behaviour of the nationalsfor “…a more immediate…more intense and more effective form of transnational bonding”(Verhulst, Ibid.).2.2 The Black African Diaspora Audience:For the purpose of this project and its concern with the Nollywood film viewing amongBlack diaspora audiences, the constituency of the black diaspora audience is considered fromthe classificatory line of Anglophone black African and Afro-Caribbean excludingFrancophone black African, Afro-Latin, black British and black American. This is because inbroad terms, the constituency that make up the black diaspora, even all though hail fromAfrica (Reid, 1993: 2-4), some never had any contact with the continent. Moreover, as theselect audience relevant for this study are the Anglophone black African and Afro-Caribbean,this is due to, first, the dependant variable of study is Nigerian films, the film making processis independent and commercial and concerned with black themes in which people of Africanancestry participate as screen writers, directors and thespians.Secondly, the content orientation of the films are only relevant to people who can understandEnglish when spoken with African (or Nigerian) accent and who have had fore experience ofpartaking in the cultural rudiments performed within African locales before becomingacculturated in their western environment. A third and most important reason is due to thefact that the Nollywood movies are noticeably popular in wide scale among people in theAnglophone African and Caribbean countries including those in diaspora.2.3 The Slavery Exodus Dimension:In theorising diaspora, ‘Diaspora’ was the appellation attached with the Jews in the earlyperiod of dispersion from their initial homeland into various cities across the globe. The term

‘Diaspora’ became an expansive dosage borrowed by academia in addressing the subject oftransnational ‘citizens living abroad’ (Braziel and Mannur, 2003). History exposes that theextensive exodus of black African communities date back to the early period of 16th century,the Slave Trade era that forced a huge sum of African natives out of their habitations intonew unfamiliar destinations. ‘A study of Diaspora can help explain the dispersal of previousoppressed or colonised subject in diverse locations and… identities and sense of belonging”(Agnew 2006:187).Usually, people that identified with each other as part of a collective past would however,together, often develop collective memories. This is because when personal memory isexperienced collectively, it moves from individual to a social phenomenon (Bal, et al1999.75). Against this backdrop, pathway for construction of social memory based onindividual experience is created (Agnew 2006:20). Quoting in similar vein as Bal, et al,Agnew stresses that as much as memory is capable of being created, stored, or communicatedby an individual, it could as well be used as social constituted forms, narratives and relations(Agnew 2006:20; Bal et al 1999).Agnew and Bal, et al opinions reflect the rudimental process of cultural memory in diasporiccommunity people which often unifies them towards enhancing and encouraging each otherto finding meaning in things pertaining to their cultural roots. Consequently, the BlackAfrican Diaspora audiences will become passionate about anything that purveys their localtradition. This is perhaps where the film genre steps in to stimulate their thoughts and remindthem of their erstwhile solitary lifestyles of beloved homeland. In retrospect, the transatlanticblack African diasporic movement, echoes that create the idea of one’s home lies amidst theframework ‘self and with community identities that are deterritorialised or constructed acrossboundaries of phenomena such as race, ethnicity, nationally and citizenship’ (Agnew, 2006).This submission simply means one’s home is in one’s imagination.2.4 The Race Dimension:This study does not intend to essentialise race, but rather to locate it in historical processes inwhich it is a determining social fact. This suggests that “a set of essential physical andcultural traits, which emerged at a distant point in the past, have been preserved- unchanged

in form, substance or meaning- by peoples of African descent wherever they may be found”(Woodson, 1993:3).The enslavement of a “race” of peoples and the forcible migration and displacement of otherpopulation groups, the destruction of sovereign nations, the formation of new states undercolonial rule, and the creation and propagation of false cultural claims and representationsthat persist to this day, summarises the enduring impact of a race and the collective identitiesof African posterity. The dislocation of millions of Africans - i.e., their uprooting andtransportation to various parts of the world- significantly changed their identity and sense ofpeople hood that had been theirs in various African settings. From the inception of thediaspora to the present, race became a central defining factor.For this reason, the primary experience of being defined in racial terms is pertinent to thepeople-formation process. Therefore, racial definitions have constituted a fundamental realityimposed upon the African diaspora peoples, and have informed their fate within a raciallydivisive system. In response, such a system and in terms of their own efforts to survive anddevelop as a group, it is virtually impossible for peoples of the black diaspora to avoid beingconscious of their race.The race dimension must be examined as a prime factor in the group’s own social formationand in the development of their sense of identity. Thus, populations such as the black Africandiaspora can become, under particular historically conditioned circumstances, a distinctivepeople (Darnton, 1994). The present moment is distinguished by three significant andcontingent developments that further contextualise the study of black Diasporic cinemas.First, as capitalism expanded on a world-scale, during the late 15th to 19th centuries, itsdevelopment, as noted earlier, has been associated with and dependent on large-scaleinternational migrations of people from one geographical site to another in the world-system.2.5 The Socio-Ethnic Dimension:In the late 20th century international migration became markedly different from earliermigrations in magnitude, composition and pervasiveness. International migration hassignificantly grown as the global capitalist economy expanded. The composition of the

migratory populations is more differentiated than in earlier waves by type -labour, refugeeand settlement.A case in point illustrative of the magnitude of international migration is the number of thedispersed persons from Third World countries of Africa and Caribbean. The decliningeconomic conditions In the Third world has put enormous pressure on some governments inthe World to adopt policies that encourage the outward migration of populations to thoseareas of the world where there is demand for low-wage labour. For instance, one-half of theJamaican population migrated to the United States (and Britain) during the post-war period(Watson, 1989), where they have established permanent diaspora communities.This foregoing factor for population growth of the black diaspora in western countries is thegrowth largely associated with massive and rapid rise in Third World urbanisation. We aretoday witnessing rapid urbanisation of the emigrated black Diaspora in western countries ina scale that is creating mega-cities in which traditional cultures and ethnic affiliations areincreasingly stressed (Borges, 1983:262), reconstituted and displayed by them. Anothercondition would be as a result of the historical and contemporary process of ubiquitous,though uneven, development of capitalism in the global system.The colonial process and slavery, of which international migration and settlement are a part,and the population growth and urbanisation, especially, but not only in the Third World,forged distinct multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural formations in the world. Thedevelopment of these “mixed formations, where race, gender, ethnicity, and class intersect,pose interesting and important intellectual and practical questions about “cultural” and“national” and “transnational” identities.What populations constitute a nation and what are nations’ (extra-national) boundaries, andhow diaspora communities reshape “national” cultures, reconfigure and create “new”identities, while maintaining “bi-national citizenship,” are the subjects of renewed study andredeployment that challenged the notions and the normative assumptions and definitionsabout these categories.

2.6 The Socio-political Dimension:Therefore, in hypothesizing the concept of black cinema, “what makes a Third World film(i.e., Nigeria cinema) viable alternative to Western cinema) among wide cross-section ofpatriotic viewers from Africa and the Caribbean, is not exclusively the racial make-up of thefilm, the film’s aesthetic character, or the film’s intended audience, but rather the films’socio-political orientation within the hegemonic structures of post-colonialism” (Lott, 1991).For instance, the Nollywood film entitled: Amazing Grace, which was released in 2009reflected the story of the Slave Era in Nigeria. And because the movie featured white(English) characters from the UK, the film became the first major movie from Nigeria to beappreciated by cross-section of the Black community in the world. Correspondingly, blackAfricans and Caribbeans come under the auspices of “the de-colonised nations of the worldwhose economic and political structures have been shaped and deformed within the colonialprocess of the Western imperial nations (Stam and Spence, 1985).The black diaspora exists over time and space, and is a historical formation of the capitalistworld-system; it is dynamic, plastic transnational, intersecting across the world. Migrationand displacement, social oppression and resistance are among contemporary exemplars ofblack diaspora dispersion. In defining the black diaspora, Hamilton (1988) contends that itrepresents: a type of social grouping characterised by a historical patterning of particular social relationships and experiences. As a social formation, it is conceptualised as a global aggregate of actors and subpopulations, differentiated in social and geographical space, yet exhibiting a commonality based on historical factors, conditioned by and within the world ordering systems (Hamilton, 1988:18).Along with other diasporic population groups, whose descendants are from the Third World,the global dispersion of people of Africa descent is rooted in the colonial process. However,unlike other colonised groups, Africans were enslaved for nearly four centuries and on amagnitude unprecedented in human history. This largely forced scattering peoples of Africanancestry in other geographical sites, linked by a common socio-political condition undercolonialism and slavery. This defines the historical antecedent of the contemporary blackdiaspora. However, tentative and problematic the category, race is also a defining, though

historically contingent, feature of the black diaspora that distinguishes it from other, mostlycultural, religious or national diasporic populations.2.7 The Socio-Economic Dimension:However, it is also pertinent to view another profound knowledge which expresses a differentsense of remembering from one person to another. This will be based on a different recoursefor the dispersion of black African diaspora abroad. Apart from the black Atlantic slave tradeharbinger for the pockets of Diaspora communities spread pervasively across the globe(Braziel and Mannur, 2003), another point of diasporic dispersion is witnessed in the waymany peoples around the world including black Africans massively migrated from theircontinents to other continents in search for greener pasture (better economic conditions). Thislatter rational for migration introduces the criteria for which present-day migrants emigratefrom their countries.These set of migrants are more close to their country of origin because they had lived muchof their early life there and perhaps gotten their primary and secondary educationalorientation before they left for overseas. In this regard, some of them go through culturalshock and may find it difficult to acculturate in their new place of domicile. So there istendency that they will represent themselves in the manner they had culturally been imbibedwith from where they were coming from. And since they may not be able to exhibit theircultural mentality in their host lands, they will find means of reconnecting to the culturesfrom back home through any cultural media forum that re-create their cultural identity (this iswhere film is deemed relevant).2.8 The Socio-Cultural Dimension:Diaspora and cultural studies scholars, concerned with marginalised communities haveincreasingly engaged these subjects; along with the cultural-technological forms thatcommunicate and maintain solidarity among dispersed social groups in a mediated andinterconnected world. Mixed formations have preceded colonialism, but they were expandedand reconfigured in the colonial process. These formations are most evident in Third Worldcities, where diverse population groups are more likely to converge, cohabitate and interact,or in nations like Nigeria, perhaps one of the most mixed ethnic and “hybrid” of countries in

the Third World. These mixed formations of people from Third World are also manifest inmany First World nations, where they are largely defined as minorities.In USA, for example, the racial and ethnic formations that have evolved were forged largelyby Third World immigrants who have historically served as a source of cheap labour in thepost-war period. Distinguishing racial and cultural features of the immigrants that set themapart from their relationships to the peoples of the host nations followed labour from theperipheries of the Third World. The United States was virtually a non-homogeneous society.Its primary experience with white overlords had been with their colonial master in the time ofthe political expansion of Britain Empire. But in the 1950’s, due to a post-war labourshortage, a damaged economy and a weakening grip on its territories forced Britain toencourage people from the Caribbean and Africa to come overseas to fill manual jobs(Sivanandan, 1991).More generally, in ethnic enclaves and on the streets of any Western nation metropolis arethe living artifacts of a colonial past, peoples who self-consciously parade the worlds of theirformer imperial states culturally and physically distinct, “carrying their identity on theirfaces (Sivanandan, 1991). While some cultural and physical traits of social groups areclearly discernible, the categories that they presumably signify are immutable in racialdiscourse.In describing the features of multiculturalism, Stam and Spence (1985) presented areconstituted and dynamic framework for understanding “identity” in its variegated,multilayered and transnational dimensions. The authors view it “from the margins, seeing asminority communities not as interest groups to be added on to a pre-existing nucleus butrather as active, generative participants at the very core of a shared, conflictual history….”(Stam and Spence; 1985) However, this rejects the concept of a unified, fixed, andessentialist conceptualisation of identities (or communities) as consolidated sets of practices,unstable, historically situated, the products of ongoing differentiation and polymorphousidentification…. (Hall, 1993).This goes beyond narrow definitions of identity social relations, opening the way forinformed affiliation on the basis of shared social desires and identifications….it is reciprocal,

dialogical; it sees all acts of verbal or cultural exchange as taking place not between discretebounded individuals or cultures (Ziff, 1982: 301) but rather between permeable, changingindividuals and communities with regards to culture and identity given that culture is thewhole body of efforts made by a people in the sphere of thoughts to describe, justify, andpraise the action which the people has created to keep them a unified people. Thus whencultures are formed nationally, Fanon (1967) argues, they should therefore find ways totaking their place at the heart of struggle for freedom of practice in countries where theirpractitioners find themselves (Fanon, 1967, cited in Armes, 2006:64).2.9 African Culture and Film:If we look at the history of African cinema, it is not necessarily the film’s aesthetic qualitythat matters, but rather the message and its historical and cultural specificity. Within thenetwork of contradictions that characterises Africa, there is probably no more problematicarea than that of culture. The artistic craftsman of Africa displays the tensions between theforces of westernisation and tradition to a particularly intense degree. Even if they are drivento oppose the political and social policies of the ruling elite, they cannot cease to be a part ofit, though either shared origins or achieved social status. In respect to the gulf between rulersand ruled, those concerned with culture, whether as politicians and intellectuals, organisersand administrators, or as writers, artists, and film makers, are inevitably closure to the rulers.Yet ultimately in postcolonial society, culture can only be valid if it is the product ofindividuals able and willing to work against their own narrow class interest.The position of the Africa creative film artists is unique one. Though often at odds with theruling members of the elite to which they belong by virtue of their education, they areequally cut off from the mass of the people by the literary forms and language that theychoose. Their position could hardly be more different from that of the traditional storytelleror craftsman, whose identification with his audience or clientele was direct and immediate.As Ousmane Sembene noted at the First Festival of Negro Arts at Dakar in 1965, “All of uswho are writers are also people who have to some extent lost their roots” (Sembene, 1975cited in Hall, 1993).

For many Third world countries, continuing interplay with Europe provides a crucial and byno means wholly negative thread. The example of Jamaica could stand as a particularly clearexample to trends present to some extent throughout Caribbean and continuing across thedivide of political independence. This sense of entering the present thanks to the assimilatedinfluence of Europe contrasts strongly with the retreat into the past entailed in theconfrontation with local tradition. The attempt at a reinsertion into tradition can be extremelydifficult for an individual, and one of the central themes of the West African film releasedover the last thirty years has been the destructive impact of westernisation on an educatedperson who subsequently finds himself caught between two cultures (Lawson, 1982). Evenwhen this crisis is mastered and becomes the subject of a successfully completed Africanfilm, a certain retreat into the past still inevitably seems involved.Once more the African experience can be seen as analogous with a slightly earlier tendencyin Indian film making, where a similar return to the past and to the rural life is attempted by anumber of Indian producers in the later part of the 20th century. Similarly, the African film isessentially a cinema about African tradition for westernised audience; it was a way ofreturning to the past and to the rural life of Africa. African cinema were created frominspiration derived from African literature which centre on reflections of African life andexperiences defined in terms of national and traditional traits and presented to the Africanaudience as veritable alternative to films from the alien continents. Also goodly and arbitrary,is the idea that film makers seek themes from their own countries and add local colour whichmakes the films meaningless to non-Africans but palatable to those who understand them.For some, the salutary effect of the films led to apparent rejection of westernised culture infavour of a return to specifically understood traditional roots after a period of colonisation byforeign films. Certainly in Africa, much of what passes for “tradition” is the result of a conscious determination on the part of the decolonised people to re-establish order and security and a sense of community by means of defining and enforcing “tradition…” (Ranger, 1983: 262),

This is where film comes in to help define and enforce tradition. The most far- reaching inventions of Africa tradition took place when the Western film producers believed themselves to be respecting age-old African custom. What were called documentary of customary law, customary land-rights, customary political structure and so on, were in fact invented by colonial codification (Ranger, Ibid: 249- 50).The western perspective of making films that show African culture considered tradition,which has little historical validity, since it was the product of colonial perception of Africanculture. Maybe a sense of tradition, but not a vital component of cherished culture from anAfrican perspective which is by no means easily attained, particularly by those whosethought process have been shaped by a Western education. The kind of intellectual task thatthe reconstruction of the past after a period of colonisation is as Renato Constantino suggests: A people’s history must rediscover the past in order to make it reusable….The past should not be the object of mere contemplation if the present is to be meaningful.For if the past were viewed as a “frozen reality; … the past as a concrete historical realitymust be viewed as an integral part of the process of unfolding total reality of the people(Constantino, 1980: 234).The failure to build a black African film industry despite the valiant efforts of individualfilmmakers and a number of governments is hardly surprising in view of the fact that modernfilm industry of any kind in Africa dates only from colonial governments’ regimes seeking toproject African heritage to Western audience for commercial advantages. As late as 1950s inNigeria (a country which was later to become something of a film producing giant in blackAfrica), the production of films were done in high percentage by foreigners cashing in on theindustrialisation that occurred under colonial rule. Early film enterprises tended to be ownedby foreign capital until later indigenous capitalism which led domestic film entrepreneurs tobe added to the foreign control.Initially, the film industries have been created by indigenous capitalists attracted by theprofits to be derived from catering to the entertainment needs of the new audience composedof those drawn into the cash economy by urban industrialisation and the rural exodus. But

black Africa, coming late to industrialisation, missed out on the boom. In these instancescinema came to be seen as an excellent investment for undeclared profits from theillegitimate economy. In country like Nigeria, where there have been far more lucrative andless speculative outlets for reinvestment in the film industry. Though subsequent films aimedat gaining indigenous control over foreign firms, but the production business had to becompleted overseas because the realisation of establishing local production facilities wasbeyond the reach of local film producers.Industrial infrastructure for cinema studios, sound and editing facilities, laboratories arealmost completely lacking in black Africa. For most of francophone black Africa’s cinemaorganisations that were involved in film production such as in Burkina Faso, Ouagadougouand other French African colonies where indigenous producers tried to carry out domesticcinematography, resources were not available to the local producers for reason that thefrancophone countries were indeed the continent’s poorest countries because, amongst otherreasons, they were exploited and impoverished by the French imperial rulers (Martin, 1995).However, unlike in Anglophone black Africa, where the British introduced industrialisationand film production economies for its inhabitants. Perhaps this is why Nigeria later became aleading black African nation in film production.However, the factors which go to shape cultural productions in a black Africa nation likeNigeria constitutes only partial grids, each of which implies a different set of divisions.Though traditional beliefs persist, the varying penetration of Islam and Christianity tends todifferentiate the North from the South constituencies of Nigeria. For example, patterns ofcapitalist development in Nigeria make a division between Nigeria and other West Africancountries. In West Africa, entrepreneurs emerged largely from artisanship and trade, whereasin East Africa they have tended to come “through the straddling process of western educationand modern-sector employment” (Débrix, 1988). This finds its reflection in cinema to theextent that there is no equivalent in other parts of Africa with the individual initiatives,backed by local capital, which have led to the production of fictional feature films in Nigeriaand Ghana (Diawara, 1995).

Though there is an extensive and well-organised production and distribution of films in EastAfrica, through the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, for example. But all this localproduction is of documentaries serving government educational and agriculturalprogrammes. And even in the 1980s remains an expression of official views and ambitions:there have been no initiatives for privately funded features. Of course, the most important setof divisions in black Africa is that deriving from colonialism, which even after several yearsof formal independence continues to tie states and in particular their Western-educated elitesto the former colonial capitals of Western economies. Western influences on thedevelopment of cinema from the efforts of British missionaries in Nigeria to the traditions ofneutral informational documentary in Anglophone Africa continued into the 1980s.In West Africa, it was missionary Catholic Organisations such as the OrganisationCatholique Internationale du Cinéma et de L’Audiovisuel (OCIC) that in the 1980s broughtAfrican filmmaking to Western attention (OCAM, 1974). The OCAM (now extinct), was aneconomic and cultural organisation that grouped the following francophone Africancountries: Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger, Benin, Togo, Cameroun,Gabon Chad, the Central African Republic, and others for the purpose of sponsoring andprojecting documentary films with African heritage to the Western audience. Thisundoubtedly gave many young French African filmmakers an orientation to showcase theirfilms towards the West.However, the lack of post-production facilities in black Africa caused most films to befinished abroad, which not only increases enormously the cost of African production but alsomade the filmmakers to depend on western benefactors or philanthropists to be able to bearthe cost. But by the end of December 1980, attempts were made by some African states tobreak free from the dependence on foreign shaping influences, with the ending of aid toAfrican filmmakers. This was remarkable because it marked the main force behind thedevelopment of film making without financial assistance.The method of finance became through purchase of the films by the African audiences. Thefilms entered a commercial distribution system in black Africa. However, the films were

only distributed in cinema houses and could only be seen by only the African audience whocould afford the cost of buying a ticket. Consequent upon this, the scheme did little to bringAfrican films to African audiences, but it gave Africa the feel of putting the locally made-in-Africa-films by African producers for African audiences to test. The significance of thesefilms was rooted in the particularities of African culture for the mass audience, which persistsinto the 1980s.Turning to production, the amount of films (68 feature films) that were produced in Africabetween 1980 to 1984 came from 13 countries in all, with nearly half of the percentage oftotal films (33 films) from just two countries (Nigeria and Ghana) and a quarter (17 films)from 3 others (Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger). No other black African country produced anyfilm during the period. However, nowhere in Africa did a satisfying career for filmmakingsurged than in Nigeria. It is quite interesting to learn from history that cinema was broughtinto Nigeria by the English colonialist who started by making slavery and racists films. Withthe advent of decolonization, indigenous filmmakers took over and used the ‘seventh-art’ todevelop a cultural voice for not only Nigeria, but for the black Africa continent as a whole(Ugochukwu, 2008).These African films were personal creations by African filmmakers. African cinema hasgrown up largely separate from the African languages which has been a key element of blackAfrican cultural production. The major African films of the 1980s have been made inindigenous languages, but it is notable that the two countries which produce the most filmsconcerned with purely commercial success were Nigeria and Ghana. Both countries have atradition of filmmaking in the language (English)) of their former coloniser. In Nigeria, therecan be no discussion of cultural imperialism without some mention of the more pervadingimperialism that was the situation of Nigerians and other hapless British colonies in Africa.The British had taken control of the territories that now form part of modern Nigeria (thenorthern and southern protectorates). Suffice to say that the British also developed theColonial Film Unit (CFU) in Nigeria to showcase their work in the country (Brill and Leiden,2008:260) While they had done a good job of civilizing the natives, there was no better waythan to stamp this belief on celluloid feature films (Akpabio and Mustapha-Lambe, 2008:

259-270) which Nigeria indigenous filmmakers eventually gave the African colourationwhen the British succumbed to Nigerians’ agitation for self-rule (Akpabio and. Mustapha-Lambe, 2008).From the viewpoint of a study conducted by Akpabio and Mustapha-Lambe in Nigeria tofind out if foreign films still had stronghold on Nigerian audience members, the findingsindicate that a majority of respondents watch and have a favourable attitude towards Nigerianhomemade films (Akpabio and Mustapha-Lambe, 2008). However, in terms of preferencebetween local and foreign films, a small percentage indicated preference for the former. Thestudy concludes that the high quality of production of American films accounts for thefavourable views held by respondents, even though it is apparent that these and other foreignproductions no longer have a captive market in Nigeria (Akpabio and Mustapha-Lambe,2008).Two pioneers (among others) of Nigerian films were Ola Balogun and Eddie Ugbomah. Theyproduced Death of a black President and Cry Freedom respectively. These films were shotin English. In Ghana too, films like love brewed in the African pot, directed by KwawPaintsil Ansah and kukurantumi, directed by King Ampaw, play out their conventionalthemes of stagey tone and their dramatic scenes in English, The writing and performing inEnglish of scenes which would inevitably be acted out in indigenous languages givesfilmmaking of this kind an air of contrivance akin to the sense of an African culture astranslated in moving pictures that is also seen in many of the African culture revealingnovels written in English.In Nigeria, a country with apparently 427 local languages, virtually all the filmmaking so far hasbeen in English. This was because, for films to be generally accepted by a wide cross sectionof Nigerian audience, the films need to be in a language that is a lingual Franca of the people.Against this backdrop, Nigeria films were made in English and much of it has had no morethan purely commercial ambitions. Set against this excessive desire for commerce, filmswere produced more in Nigeria than other parts of the African continent. Eddie Ugbomah(one of the most successful pioneer Nigerian filmmakers), gives another reason for theprolific making of films in Nigeria when he argued that

“Foreign films have done harm to Nigeria society; foreign films have ruined the audience’s appetite for African films. Africans have become addicted to violence as seen from Hollywood and other escapist alien films… I also believe that there is no reason that the Nigerian film industry should not be lucrative. There is a large audience demand for entertainment, Nigeria has massive market. It is a country of about 100 million people and in order to make a profit, a Nigerian filmmaker has to capture only a fraction of that population, say one million people paying ten naira each to see a film” (Ugbomah, 1994 cited in Ukadike, 1994: 154).Furthermore, filmmakers do not engage in extravagant filmmaking, or spend $15 million tomake a film in Nigeria as is done by Hollywood filmmakers who can spend that much on afilm since the production are covered by insurance (so that if it flops the filmmaker canborrow money again to make yet another film). Nigerian filmmakers do not have suchprivilege so cannot afford to make movies with breath taking stunts and special effects withoutright demolition of structures and props. Those types of films are bad for Third Worldsocieties who want to preserve their own cultures (Ugbomah, Ibid).Since independence in 1960, governmental policy in Nigeria has hindered the developmentof a viable national film industry. For example, the government in Nigeria uses Federal FilmUnit exclusively to produce self-aggrandizing documentary films that they put on nationaltelevision for Nigerian audience to see. Nigerian filmmakers are thus free entrepreneurs whodo not need to clear with government sponsors or any agency before they shoot a film. Thefilmmakers invest their own money for producing their films. For this reason, it is importantin Nigeria that films must make money while entertaining or informing the audience, for theNigerian film industry to survive.2.11 The Development of Nigerian Films:The Nigerian movie industry could be thought of as beginning with the first independentlyproduced film, Kongi’s Harvest, produced in 1971 by Ossie Davis. In the course of the 1970sa number of Nigerian films were released in the country for the big screens, some notableones include Amadi, Bisi Daughter of the River, and The Mask. Later in that decade,

Yoruba travelling theatre groups from south western part of Nigeria also made the transitionfrom stage to television and to the big screen. A few to recall include films likeMosebolatan, Omo Orukan, Aiye, and Taxi-Driver. The influences that shaped the 1970sdevelopment of Nigerian film have been variously noted.On the one hand, it has been suggested that the cinematic experience as recreation in Nigeriais a colonial inheritance. The cinema displaced traditional forms of entertainment whichincluded story-telling, cultural enactments of songs and traditional dances as well aswrestling competitions, especially in urban centres (Ukadike, 1994). On the other hand, theoffers of films available in the country at the time were mainly Hollywood and Indian films –of which, the former had a particularly powerful influence on the attitude of Nigerian filmviewing habits. The development of indigenous cinema helped to emphasize the transitionfrom foreign films to Nigeria films by the Nigerian populace.With the downturn of Nigeria’s economy in the 1980s came the collapse of the indigenouscinema industry, and the advent of video film making. Through prolonged periods ofrepressive military rule, mismanagement of resources, and the adverse effects of austeritypolicies, political and economic discouragement stunted the development of celluloid film-making. Film producers went out of business and Cinema halls and facilities were shut down.This led to the filmmakers finding cheaper ways to making celluloid films available in homevideo film formats. Films were subsequently produced in Betacam videotapes cassettes andwere produced in an uneven manner and mainly for domestic consumption.Therefore, the first real Nigeria films produced outside the theatre were in traditionalanalogue video, of Betacam videotapes. Later, they were produced in VHS (video homesystem) cassettes. The commercial success of the VHS videotapes was immense so much sothat at the end of the 1990s film distribution to Nigerian homes had become quantitativelyone of the largest in western Africa, with 20 or more video films being released every week.The celluloid films made by filmmakers who were frustrated by the high cost of celluloidfilm production and failing cinema industry converted their films into VHS cassettes for saleto the audience. By the mid 1990s Law limited foreign television content so producers beganadvertising local popular films in TV stations and because at the time every state in Nigeriahad its own broadcasting station it was possible for massive Nigerian audience to see the

films. After this time, many films were released and circulated across the country, and beforeanyone could understand what was going on, a small scale informal video producing andmarketing industry developed.In 1992, the release of VHS movie Living in Bondage set the stage for Nollywood as it isknown today. Living in Bondage (1992) was directed by Kenneth Nnebue and produced byNEK Video Links. The release of Living in Bondage in the Eastern Nigerian got widepatronage from the Nigerian audience and this set the stage for the business instincts of otherfilm entrepreneurs in the country to explode (Mbamara, 2004; Servant, 2001; Onuzulike,2007; Haynes, 2005). After Living in Bondage, thereafter, Glamour Girls (a very widelypopular film) was released in 1994.Since then, despite the problems posed by inadequate infrastructure for filmmaking, lack offinance and a strong censorship regime, the Nigerian home video industry has grown withextraordinary speed. Films were hurriedly shot and distributed in major cities across Nigeriaand the videos began to reach people across the country in mass volumes. Thus, Nigeriafilms exploded into a booming industry that eventually pushed foreign films out of the homesof Nigerians. The huge success of Living in Bondage and Glamour Girls films set the pacefor others to produce other films. Through the business inherent aptitude and ethnic links ofthe ‘Igbo’ (the most enterprising and entrepreneurial ethnic race in Nigeria) and theirdominance in marketing and distribution in major cities across Nigeria, films began to reachpeople across the country. Aggressive marketing using posters, trailers, and televisionadvertising played a role in spreading the films to audiences across Nigeria.This phenomenal quantitative growth however did not necessarily translate to qualitativestandards, which continue to be regarded as poor for many such productions, and nor did itmean that the economic turnovers could come anywhere near those of established filmindustries in the United States, European countries, or India (Ukadike, 1994).In 2002 the Nigeria film industry had grown so large in profits from film sale that the NewYork Times reported “the industry is worth about US$45 million dollars” regardless ofprofits not being subject to tax (Ukadike, 1994:150). Also, the precise figures of productionand distribution are difficult to come by because they were not recorded by any agency.

Nevertheless the volume and speed of growth of Nigerian video film production withinNigeria earned the industry the appellation of “Nollywood” a terminology believed to becoined by a non-Nigerian, first appearing in an article by Matt Steinglass, an Americanreporter in the New York Times in 2002 (Haynes, 2005).2.12 State of Modern-day Nollywood movies within Nigeria:Today all Nigerian films are produced using digital video technology and they are referred toas Nollywood movies. This nomenclature however is not known to most non-Nigerianviewers outside of Nigeria who see them and they simply refer to the movies as ‘AfricanMovies’. In Nigeria everyone knows and refer to them as Nollywood movies. Thisappellation is now gradually becoming popular in the global discourse of film. Back home inNigeria where the films are made, most movies are not produced in studios. Video moviesare shot on location all over Nigeria with hotels, homes, and offices often rented out by theirowners and appearing in credits in the movies. The most popular locations are shot in thecities of Lagos, Enugu, and Abuja (Ukadike, 1994). However, distinct regional variationsappear between the northern movies made primarily in the Hausa language, the westernYoruba-language movies, the Edo-language movies shot in Benin city, and the Igbo moviesshot in the southeast (Akpabio and. Mustapha-Lambe, 2008: 259-270).Many of the big producers have offices in Surulere; Lagos and Nigerian directors adopt newtechnologies as soon as they become affordable. Bulky videotape cameras gave way to theirdigital descendents, which are now being replaced by HD cameras. Editing, music, and otherpost-production work are done with common computer-based systems.The distribution centres and market for films is Idumota Market on Lagos Island, Lagos Stateand house number 51 Iweka Road in Onitsha, Anambra State. Currently, Nigerian filmsoutsell Hollywood films in Nigeria and many other African countries. Some 300 producersturn out movies at an astonishing rate—somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 a year(Detokunbo-Bello, 2007). The films go straight to Video compact and Digital Video discs(VCD & DVD). Thirty new titles are delivered to Nigerian shops and market stalls everyweek, where an average film sells 50,000 copies (Detokunbo-Bello, 2007). A hit may sellseveral hundred thousand Discs at two hundred and fifty Naira Nigerian money (equivalent

to 1.6 USA dollars each), making them affordable for most Nigerians and providingastounding returns for the producers.Most of the films are produced by independent companies and businessmen. However, thebig money for films in Nigeria is made in the direct-to-video market. The average film,which costs between 2.5 to 3.5 million (Naira) Nigerian money (which is equivalent to($17,000 to $23,000 USA), is shot on video in less than two to three weeks selling up to150,000–200,000 copies nationwide in one day (Detokunbo-Bello, 2007). With this type ofreturn, more and more film entrepreneurs go into the film business. According to FrankIkegwuonu, author of Who is Who in Nollywood, about “1,200 films are produced in Nigeriaannually and more and more filmmakers are heading to Nigeria because of the lucrativecompetitive distribution system and a cheap workforce” (seewww.nigeriaentertainment.com). Further, Nigerian films seem to be better received by themarket when compared to foreign films because “those films are more family oriented thanthe American films” (Economist.com, 2006).Nigerian movies are available in even the most remote areas of the country. Within the lastfew years, there has been a growing popularity of Nigerian films among its people. This iseven so because local TV stations due to popular audience demand, are showing more oflocal content than foreign films. There are now cable TV channels that have come up to addto the mass communication of Nollywood movies to Nigerian audience. Nollywood films arecurrently receiving wider distribution in Nigeria than any other film brand. Between years of1994 to 2001, the National Film and Video Censors Board of Nigeria recorded over 333,810films had been shown in local TV stations in the country (Akpabio and. Mustapha-Lambe,2008). This figure is quite significant when compared to the era of movie-making usingcelluloid which could only be seen in cinema houses. From 2005, there was an average of400 films produced per year and the picture in the early 2007 boomed because foreign filmsfrom the United States, China, and India were no longer popular in television stations andfilm shops, Nollywood movies had supplanted other brands of movies that used to floodNigeria from overseas.Another factor for the wide spread of Nollywood movies is caused by the massive productionof the film in tons of hundreds per year due to the huge profit that the producers make from

film sales. So many movies were produced within a short time frame and pushed out to theNigeria audience to buy and because Nigerians audience continued to buy, new movies werecontinually being shot and produced. This resulted in economic growth and vast expansion ofthe distribution channels of Nollywood movies within the country. However, because localeconomies are not yet big enough to cater for home-grown programming and distribution ofthe movies, Nollywood marketers made ambitious move toward Nigerian audience livingoverseas (Croteau and Hoynes 2007:310, cited in Akpabio and. Mustapha-Lambe, 2008).2.13 International Perspective of Nollywood Movies:For the remarkable success of Nigerian films projecting around black African nations withinthe continent of Africa, Nollywood film industry has inspired other nations to establish theirfilm industry. We have heard of Gollywood (films produced and shot in Ghana); Ugawood(films produced and shot in Uganda); Riverwood (films produced and shot in Kenya) andeven Joziwood (films produced and shot by South African Black district). Nonetheless, all ofthese various film industries are still upcoming and have not been able to break into theglobal scenario as Nollywood films have done. This is even because Nollywood films havealso become the preferred genre of film watched by the nationals in most of these Africancountries.The projection of Nigerian movies outside the continent to the Western world came with the2007 documentary Welcome to Nollywood by director Jamie Meltzer and This Is Nollywoodby Franco Sacchi gave an overview of the industry. Jamie Meltzer’s documentary paysparticular attention to the unusual, rapid, and enterprising way that most Nollywood films arecreated as well as their significance and contribution to the greater society. On the otherhand, Franco Sacchis documentary features interviews with Nigerian filmmakers and actorsas they discuss their industry, defend the types of films they make and detail the kind ofimpact they can have.Also in 2007, a Danish documentary Good Copy Bad Copy features a substantial section onNigerian cinema, which focuses on the direct-to-DVD distribution of most Nigerian movies,as well as the industrys reliance on off-the-shelf video editing equipment as opposed to themore costly traditional film process. Furthermore, in 2008, a Canadian documentary:

Nollywood Babylon was released by AM Pictures and National Film Board of Canada andshown in the Official Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. TheNollywood Babylon documentary “looks at the industry like a guerrilla filmmaking arenawhere the only limit is the passion the artists and artistes have for making films” (Laperriere,2008).The contributions of these various documentaries went a great deal to launch Nigerian filmsand Nollywood industry successfully into international cynosure. As corollary, Nollywoodfilms are increasingly drawing the attention of the global media and film critics. With thesedevelopments the Nollywood film industry has become subject to serious academic attention.Currently in Nigeria, Nollywood movies have exploded into a booming industry that pushedforeign film brands off the shelves from thousands of Nigerian homes. The industry nowmarkets it movies all over black Anglo Africa continent particularly eastern and westernAfrica where the use of English is lingua franca. Thousands of movies leave Nigeria for othercountries even before they have been released in Nigeria (Vasagar, 2006).One of the first Nigerian movies to reach international renown was the 2003 release ofOsuofia in London, a film that was shot in the London metropolis, starring Nkem Owoh, afamous Nigerian comic actor who played the idiotic role caused by cultural shock whichmost Africans depict on their first arrival in the UK. Since that time, shooting of Nigerianfilms abroad has increased considerably. During the past three years, Nigerian films havebeen given pride of place in an impressive series of festivals in three different continents: inNairobi, in France, in the Netherlands, in Berlin, New York, Yaounde and Los Angeles(Economist.com, 2009). This expansion ensured genuine internationalisation of themarketing of Nigerian film brands. It is now common feature to see Nigerian video CDs andDVDs on online shops like eBay and Amazon websites as well as in market stores run andmanaged by non- Nigerian sellers in tens of countries, including non-Anglophone and non-African countries.At the present rating, films from Nollywood are conquering new territories because thedomestic market is becoming too small for them (www.economist.com, 2006). Oneinteresting phenomenon about viewing of Nollywood films in Nigeria is that, the Nigerianaudience rely almost exclusively on the VCDs and DVDs format to see the movies. Whereas

in all major film producing countries like USA, India and UK, films are distributed in at leastthree different formats via cinema, television DVD and BlueRay. Audience in these countriescould see movies first in the big screen theatre before they are released in disk formats. Thisis not the case in Nigeria. The pattern described here has continued and grown in scope sinceand since 2009, Nollywood films are now increasingly available on DVD only.The international distribution of Nollywood video films naturally has an impact inmulticultural contexts in North America and Europe. As a case in point, in the UK and USAthere are major concentrations of Nigerians in the Greater London area and Birmingham ofUK and in Brooklyn and the Bronx of New York in the USA. Although emigrants fromNigeria may have started peregrinating from Nigeria from the early 19th century, however,due to the Nigeria Civil War of 1966-1970 and protracted political and sporadic ethnic andreligious crises, many Nigerians immigrated to other western countries including the USAand UK for economic, social and political benefits. It is remarkable to note that a significantwave of greener pasture seeking Nigerians made exoduses to the USA and with the economicdownturn of the 1980s which caused poverty in Nigeria.As stated earlier, it was due to the fact that Nigerians were settled in overseas that first gaverise to the international distribution of Nollywood films to Nigerian Diaspora. But as of now,the consumption of Nollywood videos is not confined to Nigerians in Diaspora. Thedistribution cuts across a larger African Diaspora network, notably, for instance, SierraLeoneans (a group of immigrants that has grown as a result of ten years of civil wars). Also,the films are consumed to some degree by Afro-Caribbean communities of longer standing inthe USA and UK. Circulation of Nigerian videos began in areas with concentrations ofNigerian immigrants then moved to attract other African and Caribbean diaspora in the USA.In the perspective of Justin Duru, a Nigeria living in the Dutch Island of St Maarten locatedin the East Indies, who claimed to introduce Nigerian films to the area by screening classicssuch as Glamour Girls (a movie directed by Kenneth Nnebue, 1994), on local TV stationsfor commercial incentive. Duru points out that viewers in the Caribbean are wary of theenormously popular genre of ‘witchcraft and juju’ in Nigerian films which they commonlyassociated in the Caribbean with Haitian fetish practices such as voodoo (cited in Cartelli,2007).

Far away in the East Indies of St Lucian, a vendor confirmed that he has customers whoavoid films that explicitly depict the use of or belief in magic. However, he said ‘magic andtraditional religious practices often appear in Nigerian films as evil counterpoints to the life-saving power of evangelical Christianity, this fact make these films more palatable to thereligious viewer in the Caribbean’ (cited in Cartelli, 2007). Nollywood productions owetheir popularity because the viewers derive didacticisms. Some films tell stories of abjectpoverty, the dream of becoming wealthy, the dangers of prostitution and the fascination formagic (Laperriere, 2008). The films that have obvious international appeal are those thataddress issues with deep resonance in religion, AIDS, womens rights, the miraculous andsupernatural (Meltzer, 2007).The popularity of Nollywood films in the United States in particular, is partly due to thelaunching of a 24-hour entertainment TV channel by AFROTAINMENT that run asubscription video on-demand sub-channel offering unlimited viewing of fresh Nollywoodmovies every month to the North American Nollywood patrons (Tribune.com, 2006). Thereis also a pay-as-you-view facility of African films on the DSTV Channel calledAFRICANMAGIC that features mainly Nollywood video films. With these programming ofNollywood movies, this has ensured growth in viewing habits among non-Nigerians living indifferent cities of USA.The degree to which patronage and reception of Nollywood video films have grown amongnon-Nigerian immigrants within the USA is progressive within a space of short time which isremarkable because Nollywood movies are in no way comparable to Hollywood movies interms of production and quality and which are abundantly in closer proximity to the non-Nigerians patrons of Nollywood films. This new development has effected an over-the-topdistribution of Nollywood brands to the USA, and particularly the audiences being targetedby Nollywood marketers are the greater non-Nigerian viewers. This is a unique developmentand necessitate that systematic study be carried out to examine for consumption by the widernon-Nigerian diaspora in the West. Hence this study was developed for the purpose ofexamining this attitude among non-Nigerians who see Nollywood movies in the USA.2.14 Nollywood Movies in the United States:

Before the spread of made-in-Nigeria films within and outside Nigeria, foreign movies asAmerican, Indian and Chinese films pervaded the country attending to the tastes andpreference of Nigerian and non- Nigerian viewers in the USA. Of all these available movies,the American movie was more in popular tastes of a cross-section of Nigerians. But with theincrease in supply of local movies, American movies got less and lesser patronage until itpushed them out being the popular brand in the country. Today, USA is witnessing thereverse since then, tens of thousands Nigerian movies have been released into the USA tomeet the surging demand for it by the community of Nigerians and non-Nigerians diaspora inthe USA.With Nollywood movies crossing over into the USA, it became the third largest film marketin the world after Hollywood and Bollywood. In January 2008, Nollywood writer-director-producer Jeta Amata released The Amazing Grace, a movie reflecting the story of the SlaveEra in Nigeria. The movie features Nick Moran (English) and Scott Cleverdon (Scottish),two actors from the UK. These films became the first major movie distribution of a Nigerianfilm in the United States (Alexander, 2008: 78) as it was appreciated by cross-section of theBlack community including Afro-Americans.In the United States, Nollywood films were first aimed at a popular Nigerian audience, butsoon gained enormous patronage from other Anglophone immigrants from Africa and theCaribbean. Their popularity among people of non-Nigerian descent is surprising andindicates the potential for this film genre to grow beyond its Nigerian and African base(Cartelli, 2007). Nigeria’s contemporary film industry, which began in 1992, has, within ashort time, experienced an extraordinary growth, and is now ranked the third largest in theworld, surpassed only by the United States and India (Misani, 2009). Annually, Nollywoodproduces an estimated 2,500 films, most of them are budgeted as low as $10,000 (Cartelli,2007). It is possible to find in the neighbourhood of New York video stores in Harlem,Brooklyn and the Bronx where Nigerian movies are displayed on selves in Diaspora shops.Big screen theatres in New York have also helped to showcase Nollywood. For instance, theNew York city Museum of Modern Art presented the renowned Nigerian movie entitled:Nollywood Babylon (released in 2008) while the Roy and Niuta -Titus Theatre II screenplayed the popular Lost Maiden (released from 2007-2009) starting from 3rd-9th July 2009

to the teeming Nollywood viewers in New York (Misani, 2009). The United States ratherthan other countries where Nollywood is patronised is mostly targeted by Nollywoodfilmmakers for the marketing of films outside Nigeria. This is due to more foreign earningsgotten for the movies due to value of dollar over the currencies of the other targeted Afro-Caribbean and African countries,2.15 Extent and Popularity of Nollywood Movies in the USA:In recent times, writers have recorded that Nollywood movies have gained immense growthin terms of reaching across a diverse community of international audience in the UnitedStates of America. The reason is obviously due to the convergence of immigrants fromvarious nations of Black African origin to the United States, a phenomenon that was firstenhanced by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and later catapulted by the economic orientedmigration of Blacks from their continents and country of origin. And with the help ofglobalisation of film in satellite TV channels available on-line and on cable subscription,Nigerians and non-Nigerians scattered all over the USA were able to see glimpses of themovies and subsequently make sense of them because the scenario and content in the filmsmade sense to them.However, this cross section of audience consist more of those that were born in theircountries of origin rather than those that are born in the United States. Moreover, it has beenreported that despite the popularity of Nollywood movies in New York, for instance, thefilms have not gotten notable attention from Afro-Americans who were born in the USA.Explaining this, Laperriere (2008) said this “may be due to the bizarre and fetish content thatmost of the drama depict”. Moreover, the less-than-average special-effects and stuntsportrayed makes the films amateurish compared to the Hollywood movies they are used toseeing (Sica, 2009; Abraham, 2005).Another reason for the popularity of Nollywood films in communities of various Diasporaaudiences in the United States would be because of the absence of massive piracy on DVDcopies which is maximal and rampant in the other black nations (including Nigeria) whereNollywood movies are patronised. For instance, Cartelli, (2007) recounts that “one of theplace where Nigerian movie get pirated and re-distributed in mass is Jamaica”. Nigerianfilms in their original VCD format are generally shipped from West Africa to Europe mostly

the UK, before they are redirected to the Caribbean islands, and then to other Englishspeaking former British colonies on the South American continent, where they are copiedand distributed throughout the smaller Islands in the East Indies including Guyana, Haiti,Aruba, Surinam, etc (Cartelli, 2007).Whereas, this is not to deny that there has not also been piracy of Nollywood DVD copies inthe USA because on 4th November 2010, Charles J. Hynes, the Kings County DistrictAttorney (in New York) announced the seizure of 10,000 counterfeit Nollywood DVDs fromnine Brooklyn video stores. The recovery is the start of an investigation into thecounterfeiting and illegal sale of Nigerian movies in the United States(http://findingnollywood.com, 2010).A unique development that has occurred due to the huge popularity of Nigerian moviesamong Nigerian and non-Nigerian audience alike is the extent to which film producingenthusiasts among Nigerian Diaspora in the United States created a new variant of anAmericanised Nigerian filming, called Nollywood-USA to compliment the Nollywoodmovies that were shot in Nigeria. Nollywood-USA as it is called was developed and startedamongst the communities of Nigerian Diaspora in the USA to make and shoot movies styledand tailored to suit the American audiences. The Nollywood-USA movies consists mainly ofNigerian stars, actors, producers and marketers living in the USA, all completelyindependent of the mainstream Nollywood industry which is based in Nigeria.The first impact of Nollywood-USA movie in the USA may be recorded with the productionof This America, released in 2004 and produced by Tunde Kelani. This is the very firstNollywood-USA movie to be shot in the USA. The movie was received with interest andcritical acclaim in the United States. However, another Nollywood-USA film that got theinterest of wide cross section of immigrants to the USA including non-blacks from Asia andLatin America was the film called God’s Own Country, released in 2007 and produced byFemi Agbayewa. The film was generally accepted by a wider audience because the actorswere mainly Americanised Nigerians, who have spent more of their lives in the USA and sospoke and acted more American than Nigerian.

Gods Own Country told the story of a Nigerian attorney who comes to the USA in search ofthe “American Dream” but soon finds that the USA is no better than his country as he alsosees every bit of negative social vices and a very competitive and discriminative labourindustry. So instead of the dream he expects to find, he finds only a nightmare of prejudicefrom white and black Americans alike and betrayal from fellow African immigrants as well.This film thus explores a moral didacticism for every Black person who had migrated toUSA hoping to find the USA a bed of Roses as it is often portrayed in many Hollywoodmovies which in reality is not the case.However, the recent stage of Nigerian film presence in the USA is that Nollywood-USAcollaborated with the mainstream home based Nollywood industry in Nigeria to combinehome based and USA based actors and combine film shooting in both Nigeria and the USA.Some of such collaborated films that sold on large scale in both the USA and Nigeria wereThis is Houston and Rebound, both released in 2009 and Crazy in Love released in 2010.This fusion has given such movies even greater appeal to audiences of Nollywood movies inthe USA. There are so many variants of Nigerian films now available in the USA and theaudiences of the movies in the USA are increasing by geometric progression. This is aninteresting phenomenon because if we consider that the USA is a nation that has Hollywoodwhich is the giant film producing industry in the world and moreover, if we consider a reportfrom New York Post, a USA tabloid that “Nollywood, is the Nigerian hub that producesmore feature films a year than Hollywood and markets its films in America for an estimated$20 million per year” (Demarche, 2010), these considerations certainly provides grounds foran inquiry into the cause of the development.

Chapter Three METHODOLOGY3.1 Introduction:This study adopts empirical qualitative research methodology; in forms of ethnologicalinvestigation. ‘Ethnography is a way of understanding social life in relational and holisticterms’ (Gillespie 1995:54). Qualitative research becomes a choice based on the fact that theresearch questions require deep insight and understanding of the participatory subjects of theresearch (Robson and Foster 1989). Furthermore, the use of qualitative method for datagathering “provides complex textual descriptions of how people experience in the researchissue as; it provides information about the human side of an issue – that is, the oftencontradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals” (Popeand Mays, 2000). Thus qualitative methods can help to interpret and better understand thecomplex reality of the given situation in the study by gaining a rich and complexunderstanding of a specific social context or phenomenon related to a minimal population(Wengraf, 2001) which takes precedence over eliciting data that can be generalized to othergeographical areas or populations (Schensul and Leompte, 2005).3.2 Study Design:As a qualitative research, a lot of methods can be employed. Nonetheless, the method designfor this study comprises direct open-ended interviewing. This method served as theinstrument used for data sampling and collection. Open interviews for the participants weredone via face-to-face interviewing for the selected participants. Open ended questions waschosen and administered to the interviewees because “asking open questions could elicit analmost endless number of responses, which would give variety of ideas and feelings peoplehave” (Wisker, 2001:120). Wisker’s notion underpins the purpose of this study as it poise toreach the in-depth minds of the diasporic Nigerians and non-Nigerians in the USA as theyexperience Nollywood movies.Qualitative methods is suitable for this research because the research’s central theme isfocused on explaining behaviour of individuals based on the occurring phenomenon ofNollywood movies in the globalisation of film as a tool for culture purveyor. The UnitedStates is considered appropriate for this research because the United States is an immigrant

nation of a diffused multicultural society and very suitable for researches on immigrant anddiaspora studies. In addition, the cities of Brooklyn in New York and Waterbury inConnecticut in particular, have massive concentration of black immigrants from Africa andthe Caribbean residing there. However, since the study is based on data collected based onqualitative individual opinions, it was not necessary to use too many persons for the researchas the data collected can be generalized to other geographical areas or populations (Schensuland Leompte)..3.3 Method of Data Collection:The semi-structured interview method was adopted in the method of data collection. This isdone in order to achieve purposive findings for the study with regards to the main questionsof the study. In view to this, the researcher made a list of questions to serve as the interviewguide, which will also be used as the structure order for data presentation for this research inchapter four. A sample of the interviewguide schedule is shown in the next chapter.3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Technique:A total of fifteen interviewees were interviewed for this research. Only interviewees thatdescriptively fit the definition of immigrant were considered for this research. For thisreason, interviewees were selected from those who have continually lived in the UnitedStates for no less than a minimum of five years. This means that only immigrant residentswere interviewed, those who had short stay residency such as persons with short stay visasand work permit were not considered suitable. The select interviewees were chosen based ondeclaration of patronizing of Nollywood movies. They were also chosen based on theiravailability to the researcher and wiliness to consent to being interviewed. A compilation of alist of all the interviewees was done based on recommendation that they are patrons of themovies. The method of interviewing was via direct questioning of each individualinterviewee on one-to-one basis.Interviewees/participants were selected from among immigrants of different nationalitieswho have been resident in the United States. This select group comprise particularly ofemigrants to the USA from Africa and Caribbean. They were interviewed on the basis that

they all take part in seeing Nollywood movies. The interviewees were chosen based on thecriterion that they have lived continually in the United States for at least five years andabove. This criterion is necessary because according to the UN definition of “immigrant” andwhich has been adopted in various immigrant researches, “immigrants are classified anddefined as people or audience who are living outside their own country for a long period oftime usually over a year and who have intention of settling in their host country” (UNCharter E43 N8, 1984 cited in Koser, 2007).The interview covers a total of fifteen persons of whom five of them are of Nigerian origin.The others consist of variety of nationals from Africa and variety of nationals from theCaribbean. To come up with this group, the first five Nigerian interviewees were chosenbased on observation of their patronage for Nollywood movies. The other ten non-Nigerianparticipants were chosen based on recommendation from the Nigerian participants uponasked to recommend other non-Nigerian they know who also patronise the movies.The method of interviewing is via direct quizzing on one-to-one basis with each separateindividual interviewee. This procedure makes the interviewing outcome more individualistic.Tape recording of all the interview sections is done upon permission from the interviewees.The interviewees selected for this study are located in Brooklyn and Waterbury in the statesof New York and Connecticut. All are adults involved in material employment of some sortsfor economic gains and have been continually resident in the USA for at least five years. Theresolve of the interview with them was to learn from them why they see Nollywood films andwhat sense they make of the movies.The fifteen interviewees were from a total of seven countries. Apart from the Nigerianinterviewees, other participants from other countries were chosen for the purpose ofinterviewing the nationals. This is not done in any particular order of preference for a countrybut rather to the availability of those who consented they see Nollywood films and consentedto be interviewed for the purpose of this research study. The countries’ national that thusparticipated were from the following countries:(1) Nigeria, a republic in West Africa which gained independence from Great Britain in1960.

(2) Ghana, a republic in West Africa which gained independence from Great Britain in 1957.(3) Kenya, a republic in Eastern Africa; achieved independence from the Great Britain in1963.(4) Cameroon, A republic on the Western coast of central Africa; was under French andBritish control until 1960.(5) The Bahamas, an Island country on the Caribbean Islands it gained independence fromGreat Britain in 1973.(6) Barbados, a country on the eastern most part of Caribbean Islands became independentof Great Britain in 1966.(7) Jamaica, a country on the Caribbean Islands became independent of Great Britain in1962The categories of the interviewees comprise of five Nigerians. Five other persons were fromother African countries and remaining five persons were from the Caribbean countries. Abreakdown of interviewees that were interviewed for this research is as follows: • From Nigeria — Five persons • From Kenya — Two Persons • From Ghana — Two Persons • From Cameroon — One person • From Jamaica — Three persons • From Bahamas — One person • From Barbados — One personThe five persons from Nigeria take the greatest number because the phenomenal focus of thisstudy is on “viewing habits among Nigerian and Non-Nigerian” audience of Nollywoodmovies. This being the focus and also the fact that Nollywood movies originated fromNigeria, Nigerian viewers are the first port of analysis in the study. It is therefore appropriateto have more persons from Nigeria interviewed so as to (if possible) establish if there isconsensus or otherwise in the reasons why Nigerians see the movies before extending it tonon-Nigerians. In addition, the second port of analysis of the study is to compare the findingsgenerated from the Nigerian viewers with those from the other non-Nigerian nationals whoalso see the movies.

This being the case, the comments from Nigerian viewers will be used as point or yardstickfor comparing so as to see where differences and similarities lie between the selectmultinational viewers for this study. The choice of using more or less number of the othercategories of other non-Nigerian nationals was based on their availability and logisticsconvenience for the research. This is not done by any means with any intention of bias on theresearcher’s part. These categories of nationals were chosen to present the possibility ofexisting cross-national viewing of Nollywood movies by non-Nigerian peoples from diversecountries with African ancestry.However, taking the number in these latter categories was as a matter of convenience in orderto maintain the focus of the study. The comments were from the persons interviewed onindividual basis without group or external influence of any sort. The data was personalisedpresentation from the interviewees. And the same questions were asked directly to eachindividual interviewee and their individual responses are analysed and discussed in thefollowing chapter.

Chapter Four DATA PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS4.1 Interview Procedure:This research being an empirical study and in particular a qualitative survey inquiry into anidentified change in behaviour of people based on an occurring phenomenon. As qualitativestudy is very useful to interpret data collected for this research, the responses from theinterviewees were directly collected via oral questionnaire and interpreted to answer theinterview questions. It was necessary to use a scheduled interview guide to enable theresearcher keep the respondents on the focus of the research. Below is a sample of theinterview guide.4.2 Interview Guide Schedule: 1. Where do you watch Nigerian movies? 2. How do you get the films? 3. Did you ever buy any of the movies? 4. How often do you watch them? 5. What quantity of films have you seen? 6. Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? 7. Do you watch Nigerian movies more or less than other movies? 8. Why do you watch them more or less? 9. What do you like about the films? 10. Do you dislike anything about the movies? 11. What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? 12. Does the experience relate to anything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth? 13. Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your own culture that you do not experience in the States? 14. Has watching Nollywood influenced your way of life here in the USA? 15. Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? 16. Can you name some of your favourite Nigeria movies?The framing of these questions was done in order to provide the foundation for generatingthe required responses that will be suitable for presenting the primary and principal findingsof the study. To further explain, the questions directed to the interviewees for this study wereframed as follows:Question 1

Where do you watch Nollywood movies? (The question was framed to determine exactlywhat medium the interviewees see films)Questions 2 and 3How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you have seen? (Thesequestions were framed to determine to what extent they go to getting the movies)Questions 4 and 5How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies? (These questionswere framed to determine viewers’ ardency to the movies; the questions specifically seek tofind out to what frequency they see the films and how much quantity of films each of themhave seen).Questions 6, 7 and 8Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Do you watch Nigerian moviesmore or less than other movies? Why do you watch them more or less? (These questionswere framed to determine whether the respondents see other film brands available to them inthe USA and if so, to what extent they prefer to see films other than Nollywood).Questions 9 and 10What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about the movies? (Thesequestions were framed to determine how passionate the respondents are of Nollywood filmsand also specifically to find out if they have any resentment about the films)Questions 11 and 12What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Does the experience relate toanything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth? (These questions wereframed to determine whether the respondents have any gratification from seeing the films inthe USA and if so, what specific gratification they derive from seeing the Nollywood films).

Question 13Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your own culture that you donot experience in the States? (This question was framed to specifically determine whetherNollywood films have any connection with the cultural roots of the respondents in relation totheir present environment).Question 14Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in the USA? (This question wasframed to find out if there is any acculturate impact on the life styles of respondents due to seeingNollywood in the USA)Questions 15 and 16Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name some of your favourite Nigeriamovies? (These last questions were framed to determine if any of the respondents were reallypassionate viewers who could retain and retrieve titles of some the movies or just passiveseers who do not bother memorising information about Nollywood films).Above all, the questions were not asked to the interviewees in exactly the way as outlined onthe schedule interview guide. The sequence in which the questions were presented was verymuch liberally done with discretion of the researcher and based on the divulging of notablyinteresting points from each individual interviewee. However, each individual intervieweewas allowed great deal of freedom in how to reply. In addition, questions that were notincluded in the interview guide were also asked as the researcher picks up on things said byinterviewees.By and large, all of the questions were asked in similar wording. In all ramifications, theinterview process was flexible. Also, emphasis was made to simplify the way intervieweesframe and understood questions from the perspective of the interviewer–– that is, “what theinterviewees view as important in explaining events, patterns, and forms of behaviour to giveroom to pursue topics of particular interest to them” (Leidner, 1993: 238).4.3 Interview Method and Findings:

The interview participants are classified into three groups of A (Nigerians), B (otherAfricans) and C (Caribbeans). Interviews were conducted via face-to-face. All interviewswere recorded into a voice recorder and later transcribed into writing format forinterpretation and analysis. However, the interview was guided by an inventory of issueswhich were to be covered in the interview session. However, as the interview programmeprogressed, issues that formed integral part of the study’s findings were hinted by theinterviewees and such were considered afterwards in the data analysis. In other words, theinterview programme was not based upon a set of relatively rigid pre-determined questionsand prompts. Rather, the open-ended, discursive nature of the interviews permittedinteractive process.The first comments of data presentation in this research are on the interviews with theNigerian participants (Group A). This is because their viewing disposition stands as theanchor for comparing the non-Nigerian viewers. Hence the outcome of the separatelyconducted interview sessions are not analyzed separately, but rather collectively; however,emphasis is noted where distinctions between response to the same questions arise. Theresponses are sectionalized into modules to give clear presentations.4.4 Interview with the Nigerian Respondents (Group A):A total of five Nigerians were interviewed, three were males with ages of 51, 39, 40 and twowere females with ages of 25 and 44. The Oldest male of 51 (is based in Brooklyn- NewYork) had lived in the USA for 25 years; the 39 year male (is based in Waterbury-Connecticut) had lived in the USA for 14 years and the 40 year male (based in Brooklyn-New York) had lived in the USA for 10 years. The two females with ages of 25 and 44 arebased in Waterbury-Connecticut and have lived in USA for 7 and 12 years respectively. Thefollowing table modules show the presentation of remarks from the Nigerians respondents inresponse to the 16 questions as depicted in the interview guide.Question 1Where do you watch Nollywood movies?Response:

The five interviewees generally agreed to see the movies at home on DVDs, Cable TV andInternet websites; The 25 year old among them remarked that she often watched on websites,the rest of them all agreed to see the movies mostly on DVD than on other media.Questions 2 and 3How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you have seen?Response:In general, the five of them all agree to have borrowed the movies from friends from time totime. However, not all of them consent to buying DVD copies. Below are their comments.The 25 year old female said: “All my DVDs are borrowed from friends, I never bought any of them, I really do not need to buy because I find so many Nollywood movies to watch for free on www.bunibuni.com so I just log onto the website and escape with the movies”Table 4.2The 44 year old female said: “…I also buy directly from those Nigerian who bring DVDs from Nigeria and whenever I see people traveling home for short visit, I give them money to buy me DVDs”.Table 4.3The 51 year old male: “I often borrowed the movies from friends from time to time. However, I do buy DVDs from local stores in the USA”Table 4.4The 40 year among them said “I don’t buy, I only borrow DVDs from friends, I have a few DVDs my friends gave to me as gifts when they come back to the USA after holidaying in Nigeria.”Table 4.5The 39 year old male: “I don’t ever consider buying DVDs with my money. This is despite that I watch the movies; I actually do not find the need spending money on them. Besides, there is no need to buy since I easily get DVDs from my friends”Table 4.6

Questions 4 and 5How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies?Response:Two of the respondents (the 25 and the 44 year females agree they see the movies regularly.They also agree they have seen too many of the movies to remember exactly how many.However, the 25 year female estimated that she may have probably seen over 1000 films onthe average. The 44 year female estimated that she thinks she had seen up to 2000 or morefilms on the average. She adds that she has up to 400 DVDs stored on her shelf which shehad bought at various times. The other three male respondents did not agree they watchregularly though they admitted to have seen many of the movies. Nonetheless, the 51 yearold male said he sees Nollywood films at least four to five times monthly. He adds that hehad seen up to 1000 or more films on the average. The 40 year male said he sees the moviesat least five to eight times a month. He adds that he has seen up to 1000 or more Nollywoodfilms on the average. The 39 year old male, gives quite interesting comments to thesequestions. He said:“I do not really have any particular order in which I see Nollywood movies; I may seeup to ten films in one month, in another month none. It depends on if someone startstalking about a movie they saw and recommend I see it; sometimes I walk into friendsapartments and they are seeing a movie, most likely I join to see the film … however, Ithink I have seen up to 1000 different Nollywood movies.”Table 4.7Questions 6, 7 and 8Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Do you watch Nigerian moviesmore or less than other movies? Why do you watch them more or less? Response:All the respondents agree in consensus to seeing other movie brands apart from Nollywood.However, they did not all agree in consensus on the aspect of whether they see Nollywoodmovie more or less. The two females say they do see Nollywood films more than any otherbrand of films. On the contrary, the three male respondents said they see more of other filmmore than Nollywood movies. When they all were asked why they watch the movies more orless, they gave the following comments:The 25 year old female:

“I am somewhat a Nollywood movie enthusiast and I have a habit of watching everymovie that others recommend to me ”Table 4.8The 44 year old female: “I do so because of the originality and naturalism of the scenes; there are no flyingvehicles and impossible visual effects that portray unreality ”Table 4.9The 51 year old male: “I do not have the habit of seeing Nollywood movies more than other brands becauseof poor acting, poor picture and audio quality”.Table 4.10The 40 year old male: “I see more of other movies more because Nigerian movies aren’t really my favourite,they just remind me of home and I like to see how the people are developing”Table 4.11The 39 year old male: “I see less of Nigerian movies because they do not have any relevance here in theStates. It is all about Nigeria in the movies and that doesn’t help me acclimatise here”Table 4.12Questions 9 and 10What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about the movies?Response:The 25 year female explains“Nollywood films are real African films; there is no other film that shows real Africanlife. They are not like Hollywood movies that have story line that have no relevance inAfrican context. Most of my friends know that I am a Nollywood movie enthusiast sothey always recommend new releases to me. I am always trying to catch up with therecommendations. This is probably why I do not have time to see other brands exceptNollywood … I do like the village drama and rural life depicted in some films. No doubtthe production and quality are below standard but I have no misgiving with thosebecause that is African standard as I was born in a Village in Nigeria that is my

standard too. However, I do not like that some of the film could go really lengthy andhave unnecessary scenes that makes the film boring and annoying”Table 4.13The comments from the other 44 year female are as follows:“I see the movies basically because of their originality as I am able to identify myself tothe culture and setting. When I see some scenes it brings back memories of mychildhood and I recall how things used to be when I was a little girl when I used tocarry a pail on my head and walk one mile to fetch water from the stream. Here in theStates there is no such thing for my children to experience. For me Nollywood is simplya cure to nostalgia that is why I watch it so frequently and more than other brands…. Ido not like the fact that some scenes are dragged on for too long, spending too muchtime on a particular scene, and sometimes, there is no connectivity in some of themovies as some just televise poorly choreographed plots and this is really frustrating.”Table 4.14The response from the 51 year old male is very different from the two females’. He said:“….I love to watch Nollywood movies with my American born children because it enablesme show them the ways of Nigerians. It is difficult however to achieve this because my wifeis from India and she wants to see Indian films as my kids want to see American films somost times I compromise because my loved ones are not able to connect with Nollywood.Despite that, some of the films from Nollywood have very poor production quality andbelow average special effects and stunts which make the movies annoying but at the sametime amusing”Table 4.15The comments from the 40 year male to the same questions were as follows:“I like seeing Nollywood movies because they remind me of Nigeria. I love to admirethe type of cars and building structures in the films as it gives me an idea on the state ofdevelopment in Nigeria. From the movies I can grade how well my country isprogressing and I think Nigeria is doing well as far as filmmaking goes coming from aThird world country … However, I find watching some of the movies tiresome andboring…they seem to portray same storyline, you can even guess what is going tohappen next. Particularly, you will just know how the movie will end without waitingto see the end. I do not like this and I feel some of the films are drab and a waste of myprecious time ”Table 4.16The comments from the 39 year male to the same questions were as follows: I think the main reason I see the Nigerian films is because I connect to the stories. I amnot a zealous patron, but I like the ideas the movies put in my head, which are the ideasof a Nigerian… this make me remember where I came from and so reduces my being

carried away by American lifestyle. Nonetheless, I dislike the fetish and negativeattributes like the witchcraft and covetousness some of the movies reveal ”Table 4.17Questions 11 and 12What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Does the experience relate toanything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth?Responses:All the Nigerian respondents agree that they derive experience from seeing the movies.However, they all did not give the same account of experience derived with regards torelevance to their culture or tradition. Below are the comments from them:The 25 year old female:“For me, the movies have really good entertainment value, the scenery and thebehaviours of the characters remind me of where I come from”Table 4.18The 44 year old female:“I find the movies very entertaining and I use it for relaxation and escapism; the moviesreveal to a large extent the culture and ways of the people in my country of origin”Table 4.19The 51 year old male: “I am able to relate to the story line in the movies, I see certain themes that arerelevant to my upbringing in Nigeria that I do not see in other foreign movies”.Table 4.20The 40 year old male: “I derive a lot of sentimental feelings when I see the movies… the movies enhance partof my personal African belief and norms that are not founded on western culture andlifestyle”Table 4.21The 39 year old male:“The movies exhibit exceptional drudgery and rustic scenery that I used to performwhile I was in Nigeria, I get tweaks of great delight from seeing those scenes and being

able to retrospect about my previous life in Nigeria.”Table 4.22Question 13Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your own culture that you donot experience in the States?Responses:The 25 year old female:“The way respect is accorded to the elderly people during interaction by way ofrespectful greetings in particular relates to the way I was brought up in Nigeria. Herein the States young people do not have any reverence for elderly people and evenaddress them by calling their names as if they and the elderly people are age mates ”Table 4.23The 44 year old female:“It helps me remember the warmness of people from my kindred; it reminds me of howwe use to be courteous and friendly to others even people we do not know. We exchangesalutation with strangers but over here, we become suspicious of strangers when theysalute us”Table 4.24The 51 year old male:“The movies reinforce my connection to my spoken dialect especially to my mothertongue which I am seldom able to use here”.Table 4.25The 40 year old male:“When I watch the movies, I see the way people eat some of the local African food withbare hands, I remember how I used to eat like that before. But here in the USA whenyou go to Afro restaurants, I see, people including Nigerians eating those same foodwith cutlery”Table 4.26The 39 year old male:“There are a lot of things that the movies remind me of that I do not see here, forexample, the market is culturally different. The movies reveal hawking activities and

there are loads of hawkers in the market place, we do not have such here”Table 4.27Question 14Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in the USA?Responses: Of the five Nigerians, three answered “no” and two answered “not really” to thisquestion. All of them did not agree that seeing Nollywood has had any influence to theirlifestyle in the USA.Questions 15 and 16Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name some of your favourite Nigeriamovies?Responses: Of the five Nigerian respondents, only the two females mentioned that they dohave some favourite movies and also gave some names of movies they have seen. However,two of the male respondents, particularly the 39 and 40 years old said they do not have anyfavourite Nollywood movie but could name some titles. Interestingly, the 51 year old malesaid he had some favourite Nigerian but did not pay attention to the titling and so could notremember at least a title of a Nollywood movie he has seen.4.5 Interview with the Kenyan Respondents (Group B):The next group of respondents whose comments are presented here are the two intervieweesfrom Kenya. They comprise of two females of 43 and 40 years who are both resident inWaterbury and have lived in the United States for ten and eleven years respectively. Bothwomen were interviewed separately. The following are their comments to the 16 questions:To Question 1The two Kenyan interviewees agree to seeing the movies at home on DVDs, and Internetwebsites, The 40 year old woman remarked that she often watch on websites, while the other43 year female said she mostly see on DVDs.To Questions 2 and 3The 43 year old female said:

“I have some few DVDs, most of my DVDs are borrowed from friends, but I boughtsome from local stores in the USA and from Kenya.” Table 4.28The 40 year old female said: “I watch a great deal of Nollywood on websites but I also buy DVDs from those Nigerian shops here and when I go to Kenya I buy some DVDs as well”.Table 4.29To Questions 4 and 5The two Kenyans agree they see the movies regularly. They also coincided they have notseen too many of the movies and could not remember exactly how many. However, the 43year female estimated that she have probably seen over 100 films on the average. While the40 year female estimated that she thinks she had seen up to 300 films on the average.To Questions 6, 7 and 8The Kenyan respondents agree in consensus to seeing other movie brands apart fromNollywood. They both agree in consensus to seeing Nollywood movie more than other brandof films. Their answers are interesting because they both said they have lately been seeingmore of Nollywood movies. When they were asked why the see more of Nollywood brand,here is what they had to say.The 40 year old female:“I watch Nollywood movies because they are revealing and educating and I love towatch the way Nigerians dress because it is similar to Kenyan dressing”Table 4.30The 43 year old female:“I see more of Nollywood because they educate me more on the African values which Icant find in other films over here ”Table 4.31

To Questions 9 and 10The 40 year old female: “Nollywood is probably the only film that x-rays Africa in the whole of the world. Thevillage scenes and rural life portrayed in some films is a unique thing to see. There is noartificiality and video effect… However, I do not like that some of the films becomeunrealistic as they try to imitate the stunts and special effects of Western films and onlyend up creating unnecessary below average scenes that makes such films fall belowstandards from the non-African viewer perspective”Table 4.32The 43 year female:“I see the Nigerian movies because they remind me of my background and culture. Insome movies I see women carrying babies strapped fast to their backs and I rememberhow I was also carried by my mother like that. When I see these movies, I recall manythings about Kenya…. I do not enjoy some of the movies because they reveal voodooand witchcraft and I find this rather disturbing”Table 4.33To Questions 11 and 12The Kenyan respondents agree that they derived some experience from seeing the movies.They gave almost the same account of experience they derived with regards to relevance totheir culture or tradition. Below are the comments from them:The 40 year old female:“The movies have really good African values, in Kenya we live in harmony, caringabout our neighbours. We consider it bad values to disrespect people around usespecially elderly people. I see these behaviours in the characters and it reminds me ofhow we do things back home in Kenya”Table 4.34The 43 year old female:“I find the movies very entertaining and I use it for relaxation and escapism; the moviesreveal to a large extent the culture and ways of people in my country of origin”Table 4.35To Question 13

The 40 year old female:“The mode of respect to elderly people by way of obeisance during greetings inparticular reminds me of how we greet elderly people back home. Here in the Statesyoung persons do not care to patronise elderly people by way of greeting”Table 4.36The 43 year old female: “I have said the Nigerian movies remind me of women carrying babies strapped totheir backs as women do in Kenya. I also see in the movies how the women sweep thehouse and compound with brooms made from a bundle of straw or sticks from coconutleaves and palm fronds. In Kenya, women also do sweeping chores with such brooms.Over here in the States, women do not carry babies on their backs and they useelectronic vacuum cleaner to sweep the house not brooms”Table 4.37To Question 14The two Kenyans answered “no” to this question. They did not agree that seeing Nollywoodhas had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA. They said the Nollywood movies just helpto provide a link back to their homeland and nothing more.To Questions 15 and 16The two Kenyan respondents could not remember any title of a Nollywood movie from allthe movies they had seen. Consequently, they could not mention at least one title eventhough they claimed they have some favourite ones.4.6 Interview with the Ghana Respondents (Group B):The next group of non-Nigerian respondents interviewed are the two interviewees fromGhana. They comprise of a male and female of 30 and 34 years. They are both resident inBrooklyn and have lived in the United States for 10 and 9 years respectively. Bothrespondents were interviewed separately. The following were their comments to the 16questions:To Question 1:Both Ghanaian interviewees agree to see the movies at home on DVDs, and Internetwebsites. They both remarked that they often watched on DVDs rather than on websites andcable TVs.

To Questions 2 and 3:The 30 year old male said:“I buy a lot of DVDs, from African shop here in Waterbury, and I buy a lot as wellfrom Ghana because I get it for cheaper there.” Table 4.38The 34 year old female said: I watch Nollywood movies on DVDs I buy from Nigerian shops here and I buy some DVDs too when I travel to Ghana”.Table 4.39To Questions 4 and 5:The two Ghanaians agree they see the movies regularly. They also agree they have seen toomany of the movies and could not remember exactly how many. However, the 30 year maleestimated that he could have seen up to 1000 films on the average and the 34 year femaleestimated that she could have seen up to 900 films on the average. To Questions 6, 7 and 8:The Ghanaian respondents agree to see other movie brands apart from Nollywood and bothagree in unison to seeing Nollywood movie more than other brand of films.The 30 year old male:“I watch Nollywood movies because they are the only movies that tell African stories inrealistic revealing ways, everything about the films makes sense to me unlike otherwestern films I have seen”Table 4.40The 34 year old female:“I see more of Nollywood because the movies make sense to me being an African. Thevalues which I cant find in other films I find them in Nollywood films ”Table 4.41To Questions 9 and 10The 30 year old male: “We from Africa have seen that Nollywood movies are the only films that bring Africaback to us as we sojourn in USA; the whole of the world have now seen African culturein its realness of rural life as portrayed in uniqueness. The artificiality and special effectwhich is unrealistic as we see in western films is absent. However, when I see some

modern Nollywood films trying to imitate the stunts and special effects of Western films,I get provoked by such films because they fail to be true to African culture”Table 4.42The 34 year female:“The movies remind me of my origin and identity. In some movies I see women cookfood at the backyard of the house in the compound with large tinker pots on fire ignitedby dried faggots, what we call firewood in Ghana. I used to fetch firewood for mymother back home when I was a young girl …. However, I do not enjoy some of themovies because they reveal artificial scenes packed with effects which is very unAfrican. when I see such movies I know this does not happen in Africa and feel they arenot being real ”Table 4.43To Questions 11 and 12The Ghanaian respondents agree that they derive some experience from seeing the movies;they also gave almost the same account of experience derived with regards to relevance totheir culture or tradition.The 30 year old male:“The movies have really good African morals; Africans show a great deal of respect toelders. In Ghana we greet our seniors and elders even when they are strangers. It is abad behaviour to disrespect elderly people. I see how the characters in the moviespresent this and it reminds me of how we behave back home in Ghana”Table 4.44The 34 year old female: “The movies reveal to a large extent the culture and ways of my people. In my countryof origin, I have seen how a man marry more than one wife and how the women wouldtake turns to cook and sleep with their husband and sometimes how they will fight andquarrel over him. Nollywood films have many of such story lines and it presentsAfrican polygamous lifestyles”Table 4.45To Question 13

The 30 year old male:“I generally admire the mode of salutation to the elderly by way of greeting with markof respect. I see this act a lot in the movies and it reminds me of how we greet elderlypeople back home. We do not have this culture here in the States, young persons eventhose Ghana kids born here do not care to greet elderly people by way or even talk tothem with respect”Table 4.46The 34 year old female:“The Nigerian movies remind me of how women show respect to their husbands inGhana. I see in the movies how women genuflect when greeting their husbands. Overhere in the States, women don’t do this because it is not the culture.”Table 4.47To Question 14The two Ghanaians answered “no” to this question. They did not agree that seeingNollywood has had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16The two Ghanaian respondents named quite many titles of Nollywood movies from all themovies they had seen. Consequently, they mention up to ten titles each as some theirfavourite movies.4.7 Interview with the Respondent from Cameroon (Group B):The last group of non-Nigerian respondent from Africa to be interviewed is the intervieweefrom Cameroon. She is a 37 year old female. The Cameroonian is resident in Waterbury andhas lived in the United States for ten years. The respondent comments to the 16 questionswere as follow:To Question 1The Cameroonian interviewee agrees to see Nollywood movies at home on DVDs andInternet websites. She remarked however, that she often watches more on DVDs rather thanon websites and cable TVs.To Questions 2 and 3:The 37 year old Cameroonian said:

“I buy a lot of DVDs, from Cameroon when I travel home; the movies are so popularin video kiosks in Cameroon, and some Cameroonians here that travel home buy theNigerian movies to resell to us here. I buy from them because they are cheaper. Theones we buy from African shops here are expensive” Table 4.48To Questions 4 and 5The Cameroonian lady agrees she sees the movies regularly. She also said she has seen muchof the movies and estimated that she could have seen up to 1000 films on average. To Questions 6, 7 and 8The Cameroonian respondent agrees to see other movie brands apart from Nollywood andconsented to seeing Nollywood movie more than other film brand. In her comments for whyshe sees Nollywood more, she gave as follows:“I see Nollywood movies more because the movies tell African philosophy from arealistic African perspective, this makes the films make good sense to me unlike otherwestern films that portray themes that are alien to me”Table 4.49To Questions 9 and 10The Cameroonian said:“I have found that Nollywood movies are the only films that make sense to me becausethey bring back themes of African culture which I find unique, educative andentertaining. The unreal life themes as most western films show-off is absent in Africanmovies. Since the movies became available to us here in the USA, I just do not haveneed for the Hollywood movies anymore.”Table 4.50To Questions 11 and 12The Cameroonian respondent said she derives experience from seeing the movies; she gavethat her experience pertains to the relevance of the movies to the culture and tradition of hercountry of birth. In her words, she said:“The movies from Nollywood have good African morals and cultural attributes; When Isee African movies, they remind me of the way we dress on Sundays when we go tochurch in our traditional attire, the way we eat food such as Rice with our bare handsor spoon instead of with fork and knife. When I see characters in the movies do this, it

brings back memories of how we behave back home…Basically; I do not have anydislike on anything in the movies”.Table 4.51To Question 13The Cameroonian said:“The movies reveal the culture and tradition of people from my country particularly inthe rural African village, where we do not eat from a dinning table as we do here.Children just gather around sitting on the floor to eat from their plate(s) of food,whereas the father may use a low table stool with plates of food served in a tray. Thiswas how I grew up eating and watched my father eat when I was a young girl andpeople still engage in this eating culture even till today in villages back home.Table 4.52To Question 14The Cameroonian answered “no” to this question. She said Nollywood has not had anyinfluence to her present lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16The Cameroonian respondent mentioned some titles of Nollywood movies as her favouritesfrom the movies she has seen.4.8 Interview with the Respondents from Jamaica (Group C):After interviewing the African respondents, the next group of respondents presented are fromCaribbean countries. The first comments presented are the three interviewees from Jamaica.They are two females of 43 and 28 year who are resident in Waterbury and a man of 40 yearswho is resident in Brooklyn. All of them have lived in the United States for twelve, elevenand fifteen years respectively. The comments they gave to the 16 questions follows below::To Question 1The Jamaican respondents all generally agree they see African movies both on DVDs andOnline. However, the two Jamaican women agree that they see the movies more often onDVDs, and less on Internet websites. Whereas, the 44 year old man remarked that he oftenwatch on websites than on DVD.To Questions 2 and 3The 43 year old female said:“I have bought DVDs of African movies from Jamaica, the copies are so cheap there

that you can buy so many at a go. I have never bought any DVD from local stores inthe USA as what I could spend on a copy can buy five in Jamaica so I just ask myrelatives back home to send movies to me.” Table 4.53The 28 year old female said:“I have bought DVD copies of African movies from Jamaica; DVDs are so cheap overthere that I can buy so many with 20 dollars. I never bought any DVD in the USA. TheDVDs are limitlessly available in the video stalls in Jamaica so I get them fromJamaica ” Table 4.54The 40 year old male said: “I watch a great deal of Nollywood on websites as I have never bought any DVDs of African or Nigerian movies. When I go to Jamaica, I get some free DVDs from my mum who is an ardent viewer”.Table 4.55To Questions 4 and 5All three Jamaicans agree they see the movies regularly. The two female exclaim they haveseen quite a lot of the movies and summarily estimate on the average to have seen up to 1000and 1200 Nollywood movies respectively. On the other hand, the 40 year male estimates thathe may have seen up to 700 films on the average. To Questions 6, 7 and 8The Jamaicans agree in consensus to seeing other movie brands apart from Nollywood. Allagree in consensus to seeing Nollywood movie more than other brand of films. Here are theircomments:The 43 year old female:“I watch Nollywood movies more because for me they are cheaper alternatives and,they showcase our Jamaican culture so much more than any other movies in the States.There are many ways similar to how we do things in Jamaica, like in the market placewhere hawkers selling the same product chase and jump in front of buyers trying to talkthem into buying from one and not the other”Table 4.56The 28 year old female:“I find the Nollywood more revealing of certain mentality men have in my country. Oneparticular movie I saw revealed something very peculiar to the way my father used to

chew pencil-like sticks cut from Guava tree to clean his teeth. I have also seen womencarry buckets of water on their heads after getting it from burrowed well. These arefeats I only saw as a girl before I moved over to the USA ”Table 4.57The 40 year old male:“We like the elegance of cultural exhibits as they relate to Jamaican culture, my wifeand I discuss about the Nigerian movies all the time and the way they show story linesthat connect with Jamaicans way of life”Table 4.58To Questions 9 and 10The Jamaican respondents all agree that they do dislike certain content of some movies theyhave seen. The two women complained about the prominence of ‘JuJu’ or black magic andwitchcraft in the story line and as well the poor quality of production. However, they gavethat they derived experience from seeing the movies and they also gave the same account ofexperience they derived. Below are the comments from them:The 43 year old female:“Some of the films are below average production quality and that makes such films fallbelow standards. Besides, there are sometimes so much sorcery and diabolism in someof them. Other than that, the movies reveal good African values that we have inJamaica. The way characters dress in some movies reminds me of how we dress inJamaica”Table 4.59The 28 year old female:“Apart from the witchery and voodoo that some of the films portray, I find them verysuitable for connecting with my culture as I cannot forget the ways of people from mybirth land and so I escape with the movies”Table 4.60The 40 year old male:

“I don’t like the prominence given to sorcery and necromancy scenes in some of themovies; other than that, Nollywood is the only medium for me to show my Americanborn kids certain cultures of Jamaica. It’s funny because when I make them see childrendoing chores in the movies and tell them that’s how they should be doing chores, theytell me I can’t be serious because they aren’t used to doing domestic chores.Table 4.61To Questions 11 and 12The 43 year old female:“Some of the movies reveal good African values that we have in Jamaica especially theway young people show respect to their seniors by greeting with slight bow of the headreminds me of how we do in Jamaica”Table 4.62The 28 year old female:“I find them very suitable for connecting with my culture because there are aspects ofthe movies that show how Jamaican women quarrel and shout at each other when theyhave misunderstanding.”Table 4.63The 40 year old male:“The Nigerian creole language is very similar to Jamaican one; I say this because ofthe ‘Pidgin-English’ they speak in some of the comic movies. It is so close to theJamaican ‘Patwa’. I find it amusing that I am sometimes able to decode a meaning towhat they are saying in the movies”Table 4.64To Question 13The 43 year old female:“As I have said, the movies show aspects of Jamaican behaviour that I didn’t know arealso present in Nigeria where the movies are made. For instance, there are a lot of teenhawkers on the streets of Jamaica who sell stuff to pedestrian and commuters. I haveseen such scenes on several Nollywood movies too, I do not see such feats in the USA”Table 4.65The 28 year old female:“I have seen in Nigerian movies how women walk and work in the house with babies

strapped to their backs with custom-made piece of cloth knitted for that particularpurpose. In Jamaica, we do the same; I even have one of such cloth with me here thoughI only use it indoors to carry my baby when I want to coo her to sleep when she isrestless. Over here in the States, women do carry babies in prams not on their backs”Table 4.66The 40 year old male:“As I said, my American born kids do not believe in doing domestic chores despite thatthey have seen children doing chores in the movies. This is because in the USA, house-help and nannies are in regular employment and certain laws prevent child labour. ”Table 4.67To Question 14All the Jamaicans answered “no” to this question. They did not agree that seeing Nollywoodhas had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA. However, they say the movies provide alink for them to connect to cultures of their homeland.To Questions 15 and 16The Jamaican respondents could remember several titles of Nollywood movies from themovies they have seen. All of them mentioned at least three titles as some favourite ones.Remarkably, they all named ‘Beyounce’ a Nigerian-Ghanaian collaborated movie as one oftheir favourite.4.9 Interview with the Respondent from Bahamas (Group C):The next group of Caribbean respondent to be interviewed is the interviewee from Bahamas.She is a 54 year old female. She is a Bahamian resident in Waterbury and has lived in theUnited States for eighteen years. Below are her comments to the 16 questions:To Question 1

The Bahamian interviewee agrees to see Nollywood movies at home on DVDs and Internetwebsites. She said she often watches more on DVDs than on other media.To Questions 2 and 3:The 54 year old Bahamian said:“My son in-law is Nigerian and he brings a lot of DVDs, to the house. I have neverbought any myself but I have seen quite a lot” Table 4.68To Questions 4 and 5The Bahamian woman said she sees the movies regularly. She also says she has seen quite alot of the movies and estimated that she could have seen up to 800 films on average. To Questions 6, 7 and 8The Bahamian respondent agrees that she sees other movie brands but consented to seeingNollywood movie more than other film brands. She gave her comments as follows:“I see Nollywood movies more because they make better sense to me unlike Americanfilms that I do not find appealing to my taste ”Table 4.69To Questions 9 and 10The Bahamian said:“Since I moved to the USA, I never found any movie that could captivate me like thoseAfrican movies from Nigeria. There are aspects in the movies that are very similar toBahamian tradition. However, some of the Nigerian movies are full of fetish and occultpractices; I find this disturbing.”Table 4.70To Questions 11 and 12The Bahamian respondent said she enjoyed seeing the movies because they relate to somecultural settings of Bahamas, she said:“I have seen in the movies that, the way they dance and play local skin drums in someceremonies are just like the way we do back in Bahamas. I do not know how this came

to be so but, they really interest me”.Table 4.71To Question 13The Bahamian said:“My pleasure in seeing the movies is based more on the cultural and traditionalheritage of the people. The themes and local behaviour of most actors in the movies arevery typical to Bahamian ways; I have seen men climbing coconut trees with twigs madefrom raffia stems. I grew up in a coconut plantation and I used to climb the trees backhome that way. There are no coconut trees to climb over here in the USA.Table 4.72To Question 14The Bahamian answered “no” to this question. She said Nollywood has not had any influenceto her present lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16The Bahamian named a few titles of her favourite Nollywood movies from the movies shehad seen.4.10 Interview with the Respondent from Barbados (Group C):The last group of Caribbean respondent to be interviewed is the interviewee from Barbados.He is a 38 year old male. He is a Barbadian resident in Brooklyn; he has lived in the UnitedStates for sixteen years. Below are his comments to the 16 questions:To Question 1The Barbadian man agrees to see Nollywood movies at home on DVDs and Internetwebsites. He said he uses the Internet than other media to see Nollywood movies.To Questions 2 and 3:The 38 year old Barbadian said:“I have seen quite a lot of those movies from Nigeria, But I have never bought anymyself. They are available for free-view and pay-per-view online. So I meet the moviesthere” Table 4.73

To Questions 4 and 5The Barbadian man said he sees the movies regularly. He said he had seen an estimate of upto 400 films on average.To Questions 6, 7 and 8:The Barbadian respondent agrees that he sees other movie brands but consent to seeingNollywood movie more than other film brands. He said as follows:“I find the Nollywood movies educative because they enable me to gain experience andknowledge in the African way of religious worship which is similar to Barbadian ”Table 4.74To Questions 9 and 10The Barbadian said:“The African movies have scenes that are very alike to Barbadian church setting. However,some scenes are full of occult arts and practices; I think this is not good.”Table 4.75To Questions 11 and 12“The way the Nigerians conduct their worshipping in Pentecostal churches is the same asBarbadians. I do not see any difference; even the religious satire on secular clergymen,offertory looting, covetousness that are shown in the story line are also typical to the vicesin Barbadian churches I do marvel at the similarity ”Table 4.76To Question 13The Barbadian said:“There are many excerpts in the movies that flash my mind back to Barbados. For instance;the way police molest non-convicted citizens as if they are criminals. Witnesses are evendetained and locked up and treated as suspects. We do have this kind of police brutality inBarbados. This kind of brutality is absent in the States.”Table 4.77To Question 14The Barbadian answered “no” to this question. He said Nollywood has not had any influenceto his present lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16

The Barbadian named a few titles of his favourite Nollywood movies from the movies he hadseen.4.11 Overview of all the Interviewees’ Responses:One of the highlights in the purpose of this research as stated earlier is to interview differentnationals from (1) Nigeria, (2) other African countries and (3) Afro-Caribbean countries whosee Nollywood movies in the United States and to find whether there are similarities ordifferences in their reasons for patronising the movies. To do this, the three categories ofrespondents are classified into three groups of A, B and C. The Nigerians are in group A, theother non-Nigerian Africans are group B and the Afro- Caribbeans are group C. Thesummary presentation of findings on the groups will enable better comparative analysis ofthe groups’ behaviour to be clearly established.4.12 Summary of Comments made by the Nigerians (Group A):To Question 1: Where do you watch Nollywood movies?The five interviewees generally agreed to seeing the movies at home on DVDs, Cable TVand Internet websites, The majority of them numbering 4 said they see the movies on DVDwhile only one person agree to see the movies more often on websites. From this finding, itshows that most Nigerians use the DVD medium as their preferred source for viewingNollywood movies.To Questions 2 & 3: How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you haveseen?All the Nigerians agree that some of the movies they have seen were borrowed from friends.However, not all of them agree to have spent money to buy a DVD copy of Nollywood.Findings show that less number of Nigerians spend money to buy the Nollywood moviesthey have seen.To Questions 4 & 5: How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies?Not all the Nigerian respondents agree that they see the movies on regular basis. One of themdid not agree to see the movies on regular basis. However, more than less of them say the see

the movies on regular basis. Moreover, all the Nigerians claim to have seen quite a lot of themovies, all of them said that they have seen no less than 400 movies on average.To Questions 6, 7 & 8: Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Do youwatch Nigerian movies more or less than other movies? Why do you watch them more orless?All Nigerian respondents agree in consensus to seeing other movie brands apart fromNollywood. However, more of the Nigerians agree to see more of Nollywood than otherfilms brands. Moreover, on why they watch the movies more or less, more of them said themovies enable them connect with Nigeria and the ones who said they see other brandsblamed the reason on the poor directing and production quality.To Questions 9 & 10: What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about themovies?The Nigerian respondents all admitted that they liked the films because the films revealaspects of Nigerian culture that reminds them of their home land. Moreover, more of themsaid they disliked poor production quality and only one of them complained that, contentsuch as ‘sorcery’ in some of the movies warrants negative attitude.To Questions 11 & 12: What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Doesthe experience relate to anything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth?All the Nigerian respondents agree that the experience they derived from seeing the moviesare in with regards to nostalgia to their home land.To Question 13: Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your ownculture that you do not experience in the States?All the Nigerian respondents summarily agree that scenes from the movies have constantlyand vividly brought back memories of their cultural practices in their home land.To Question 14: Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in theUSA?All the Nigerians answers were negative to this question. All of them did not agree thatseeing Nollywood has had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA.

To Questions 15 and 16: Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name someof your favourite Nigeria movies?The number of Nigerians who said they had favourite Nollywood movies was more thanthose who did not agree to have any favourite movies. Moreover, more number of Nigerianswas able to recall titles of some of the movies they have seen.4.13 Summary of Comments made by other non-Nigerian Africans (Group B):The comments of non-Nigerian participants from other African countries are forthwithpresented collectively so as to note where distinctions and similarities to the same questionsarise when compared to the other groups. Their response follows below:To Question 1: Where do you watch Nollywood movies?All the respondents in group B generally agreed to see the movies at home on DVDs andInternet websites. All five of them said they see the movies more often on DVD. This findingshows those in group B uses the DVD medium as their preferred source for viewingNollywood movies.To Questions 2 & 3: How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you haveseen?All the respondents in group B agree that they have spent money to buy DVD copies ofNollywood movies. Findings show they buy the Nollywood movies they have seen.To Questions 4 & 5: How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies?All the respondents in group B agree that they see the movies on regularly basis. Moreover, itwas found out that all of them claim to have seen no less than 400 movies on average.To Questions 6, 7 & 8: Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Do youwatch Nigerian movies more or less than other movies? Why do you watch them more orless?

Respondents in group B agree in consensus to seeing other movie brands apart fromNollywood. Moreover, all respondents agree to see more of Nollywood than other filmbrands and this is because the movies connect them with their African cultures.To Questions 9 & 10: What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about themovies?All Group B respondents admitted that they liked the films because the films reveal aspectsof African culture that reminds them of their home land. Moreover, all of them said theydisliked aspects of film contents that show ‘sorcery and Black magic’.To Questions 11 & 12: What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Doesthe experience relate to anything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth?All Group B respondents agree that the experience they derived from seeing the movies arein with regards to their affectation and affinity to the cultures of their home land.To Question 13: Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your ownculture that you do not experience in the States?All Group B respondents summarily agree that some scenes from the movies constantly andvividly bring back memories of their cultural practices in their home land.To Question 14: Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in theUSA?All Group B respondents answered negative to this question. All of them did not agree thatseeing Nollywood movies has had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16: Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name someof your favourite Nigeria movies?All Group B respondents said they had favourite Nollywood movies; however, not allpersons here could recall titles of some of the movies they have seen. The number ofrespondents in Group B who could recall titles of some movies they have seen were morethan those that could not.

4.14 Summary of Comments made by the Afro Caribbeans (Group C):To Question 1: Where do you watch Nollywood movies?All interviewees in group C generally agreed to seeing the movies at home on DVDs, andInternet websites, The majority of them numbering 4 said they see the movies more on DVDwhile only one person agree to see the movies more often on websites. From this finding itshows that most Afro Caribbeans here use the DVD medium as their preferred source forviewing Nollywood movies.To Questions 2 & 3: How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you haveseen?All respondent in Group C agree that some of the movies they have seen were borrowed fromfriends or relatives. However not all of them agree to have spent money to buy DVD copy ofNollywood. Findings show that less number of the Caribbean’s spend money to buy theNollywood movies.To Questions 4 & 5: How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies?All respondents in Group C agree that they see the movies on regularly basis. Moreover, allthe Caribbeans claim to have seen a good volume of the movies, in all, each member saidthat they have seen no less than 400 movies on average.To Questions 6, 7 & 8: Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Do youwatch Nigerian movies more or less than other movies? Why do you watch them more orless?All Group C respondents agree in unison that, though they see other movie brands, they givemore attention to Nollywood movies than other films brands. Moreover, on why they watchthe movies more or less, most of them said the movies enable them to connect with relativecultures of their home country.To Questions 9 & 10: What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about themovies?The Group C respondents all admitted that they liked the films because the films showaspects of behavioural aptitudes that reminds them of certain cultural behaviors’ that exists in

their home land. Moreover, all of them commented on the negative contents of witchcraft anddiabolism as bad attributes of the movies which they do not like.To Questions 11 & 12: What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Doesthe experience relate to anything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth?All the respondents in Group C agree that the experience they derived from seeing themovies are in with regards to nostalgia to their home land.To Question 13: Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your ownculture that you do not experience in the States?All Group C respondents collectively agree that scenes from the movies have constantlybrought back memories of cultural practices in their home land.To Question 14: Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in theUSA?All the Caribbeans in Group C answered in negative to this question. None of them agreedthat seeing Nollywood has had any influence to their lifestyle in the USA.To Questions 15 and 16: Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name someof your favourite Nigeria movies?All members in Group C said they had favourite Nollywood movies and were all able torecall titles of some of the movies they have seen.

4.15 Comparing the Behaviour of the three Groups:In order to compare the groups, this study has underscored that since Nollywood originatedfrom Nigeria, it is crucial to use more Nigerians as categories of individuals from threegroups to enable the study to build its pivotal bases for comparison. All three groupsHighlights of comparative analysis are presented below noting where the groups gave distinctand similar responses to the same questions.Question 1 - Where do you watch Nollywood movies?Country DVD InternetNigeria 4 1Kenya 1 1Ghana 2 0Cameroon 1 0Jamaica 2 1Bahamas 1 0Barbados 1 1TOTAL 12 3Table 4.78From the responses of all the 15 interviewees, in the three groups, we observe that a greater numberof Nigerians (group A), other non-Nigerian Africans (group B) and Caribbeans (group C) mentionthat they see the movies on DVDs more than on other media. Whereas we could see that few personsfrom the three groups do not use DVD as their preferred source to see Nollywood. From thisobservation, we can say that the three groups have similar behaviour when it comes to use of DVD astheir preferred medium for watching Nollywood.Questions 2 & 3 -How do you get the Movies? Did you buy any of the movies you have seen?Country Bought Never-boughtNigeria 2 3Kenya 2 0Ghana 2 0Cameroon 1 0Jamaica 2 1Bahamas 0 1Barbados 0 1TOTAL 9 6Table 4.79Although all the 15 persons from the three groups see Nollywood movies, not all of them admit tobuying the movies. The Findings reveal that Nigerians and Caribbeans (with Nigeria being more innumber) do not buy Nollywood movies. The other non-Nigerian Africans all admitted that they buy

the movies. Summarily, it is noted that whereas, Nigerians (more) and Caribbeans (less) are guilty ofthe same behaviour, the other non-Nigerian Africans are distinct here in this regard.Questions 4 & 5 -How often do you see them? Have you seen many Nollywood movies? Country Regularly Not-Regularly Seen many Haven’t seen movies many movies Nigeria 2 3 5 0 Kenya 2 0 0 2 Ghana 2 0 2 0 Cameroon 1 0 1 0 Jamaica 3 0 3 0 Bahamas 1 0 1 0 Barbados 1 0 1 0 TOTAL 14 1 13 2Table 4.80According to their comments, the Nigerians are not in the habit of watching Nollywoodregularly and so are different when compared to the non-Nigerian Africans and AfroCaribbeans. The group B and C members have similar behavior because all members admitto seeing the movies regularly. On the questions of movie quantity seen, group A and groupC are all both in unison because they admit to have seen many movies. On the contrary,members from group B (two Kenyans) make their group different because they said theyhave not seen a lot of the Nollywood movies.Questions 6, 7 and 8: Do you watch other movies apart from Nigerian movies? Etc Country See Nollywood more See Nollywood lessNigeria 2 3Kenya 2 0Ghana 2 0Cameroon 1 0Jamaica 3 0Bahamas 1 0Barbados 1 0TOTAL 12 3Table 4.81From their comments, more group A members are not in the habit of watching Nollywoodfilms more than other brands and so are different when compared to the group B and groupC. Again, group B and C members have similar behavior because all members admit to

seeing the movies more than other brands.Questions 9 and 10: What do you like about the films? Do you dislike anything about themovies?Country Like all aspects of movie Dislike some movie aspectsNigeria 0 5Kenya 0 2Ghana 0 2Cameroon 0 1Jamaica 0 3Bahamas 0 1Barbados 0 1TOTAL 0 15Table 4.82From their comments, none of the members in the three groups of A, b and C admitted thatthey liked all aspects of the Nollywood movies, and all of the members in the three groupsof A, b and C admitted that they disliked some aspects of the movies. In both case all threegroups have a similar behaviour when compared to one another.Questions 11 and 12: What are your experiences whenever you watch the movies? Does theexperience relate to anything in particular to culture or tradition of your place of birth?Country Have relative Experience Experiences relate to cultureNigeria 5 5Kenya 2 2Ghana 2 2Cameroon 1 2Jamaica 3 3Bahamas 1 1Barbados 1 1TOTAL 15 15Table 4.83Their comments to the above questions show that members in the three groups of A, B and Chave similar responses because they admitted that they have relative experience when theysee Nollywood movies. And their experiences from the movies relate to the` cultures of theirhomelands. In both cases all three groups have a similar behaviour when compared to oneanother.

Question 13: Can you explain what you see in the films that remind you of your own culturethat you do not experience in the States?Country Find movies remindful of homeland Don’t find movies remindfulNigeria 5 0Kenya 2 0Ghana 2 0Cameroon 1 0Jamaica 3 0Bahamas 1 0Barbados 1 0TOTAL 15 0Table 4.84From their comments to the above question it is noted that members in the three groups havesimilar responses because they all admitted that the Nollywood movies remind them of theirhomelands. Thus we can conclude that all three groups have a similar behaviour whencompared to one another.Question 14: Has watching the movies impacted any influence to your way of life in the USA?Country Has impacted influence Has not impacted influenceNigeria 0 5Kenya 0 2Ghana 0 2Cameroon 0 1Jamaica 0 3Bahamas 0 1Barbados 0 1TOTAL 0 15Table 4.85From their comments to the above question we noted that members in the three groups havesimilar responses because they all admitted that watching Nollywood movies have noinfluence to their present life style. Thus it is conclusive that all three groups have similarbehaviour when compared to one another.

Questions 15 and 16: Do you have any favourite Nigeria movies? Can you name some ofyour favourite Nigeria movies?Country Has Favourite Has no Named some Couldn’t movies Favourite moves Titles name any titleNigeria 3 2 4 1Kenya 2 0 0 2Ghana 2 0 2 0Cameroon 1 0 1 0Jamaica 3 0 3 0Bahamas 1 0 1 0Barbados 1 0 1 0TOTAL 13 2 12 3Table 4.86From the above comments, we note that members in the three groups have similar responsesbecause more numbers of participants in various groups admitted to having some favouriteNollywood movies. However, we see that the Kenyans and a Nigerian contrasted by way ofhaving favorite movies and not remembering tittles and vice versa. We may conclude herethat all three groups have similar behaviour regarding admitting to having some favoriteNollywood films.

Chapter Five SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION5.1 Summary:As this study is a qualitative analysis of an occurring behavioural tendency of a select groupof individuals, it was necessary to put forward salient questions that the study will seek tofind answers to. This is done to make the findings of the study as broad as possible toaccommodate the diversity of comments from the interviewees. The analysis of researchquestions follows below.Research Question 1 asked: “Does Nollywood movies have impact on Diaspora audienceregarding to culture?”, Question 11 (What are your experiences whenever you watch themovies?), Question 12 (Does the experience relate to anything in particular to culture ortradition of your place of birth?) and Question 13 (Can you explain what you see in the filmsthat remind you of your own culture that you do not experience in the States?) all provide therequired answer to Research Question 1. From the various answers given by the participants,they all respectively admitted that they derived relative experience from watching Nollywoodmovies, the experiences relate to the cultures of their homelands. All members in the threegroups have similar responses because they all admitted that Nollywood movies remind themof some cultural aspects of their homelands that they did not experience in the USA. Againstthis backdrop, the study makes conclusion that Nollywood movies have relative culturalimpact on the Diaspora audience who see them in the USA.Research Question 2 asked: “Does ‘nationality’ feature in the Nollywood moviesconsumption in the United States?” Questions 4 (How often do you see them?), Question 5(Have you seen many Nollywood movies?) and Questions 7 (Do you watch Nigerian moviesmore or less than other movies?) provide the answers to Research Question 2. According totheir comments, more of the Nigerian participants are not in the habit of watching Nollywoodregularly and so are different when compared to the non-Nigerian Africans and AfroCaribbeans who admit to seeing the movies regularly. In terms of which nationality see themovie regularly, The Kenyans, Ghanaians, Cameroonian, Jamaicans, Bahamian andBarbadian see the movies regularly and see them more than other film brands. On the

contrary, more Nigerians said they do not see the movies regularly and see the movies lessthan other film brands. This is an interesting observation because we find that othernationalities participate in watching Nollywood more than nationals from the movies’ origin.Research Question 3 asked: “Does seeing Nollywood movie in the United States influencethe social behaviour of viewers?” Question 14 (Has watching the movies impacted any influenceto your way of life in the USA?) provide the answers to Research Question 3. Their comments tothe above question show that participants admitted that watching Nollywood movies have noinfluence to their present life style in the USA. That is to say that the Nollywood movieshave no impact on their social behaviour in the USA.Research Question 4 asked: “Does viewing Nollywood movies induce less patronage ofother movies available in the United States?” question 4 (How often do you see them?),Question 5 (Have you seen many Nollywood movies?) and Question 7 (Do you watchNigerian movies more or less than other movies?) are used again to provide the answers toResearch Question 4. The various answers given by the participants, conclusively points thatthe viewing of Nollywood movies among the African and Afro Caribbean Diaspora in theUSA has induced more patronage for the movies to other brands of movies available to themin the USA. Against this backdrop, this study makes conclusion that the presence ofNollywood movies in the States have to some extent induced viewing preference forDiaspora audience in the USA particularly among Nigerians, other Africans and afroCaribbeans.Summarily, this research has compared how nationality feature in the viewing of Nollywoodmovies in the USA and found out that non-Nigerians has more tendency for viewingNollywood movies than the Nigerian audience. In addition, the viewing of Nollywoodmovies by African and Caribbean immigrants in the United States has induced less patronagefor other movies available there. Furthermore, the study has found out among other thingsthat, the manner in which Nollywood movies is viewed are in terms of resuscitatingnostalgia, cultural affiliations and values affectation among Diaspora audiences with sharedhistorical and political antecedents. However, the study’s findings have not agreed that

viewing of such culture oriented movies has any impact on the personal social behaviours ofthe participants in their present host nation.5.2 Conclusion/Recommendation:The research’s conclusion is on the basis of qualitative evidence rather than on basis of directobservation. There are indications from this study that transnational films which emerged asa strong base for culture purveyance and affectedness, forms strong template for ‘Nollywoodmovies’. Culture and sense of belonging have been observed to have endeared DiasporicNigerians, including other Africans and Afro Caribbeans in the USA to Nollywood films.Moreover, heritage has been identified to be a remedy to nostalgia feeling among Diasporiccommunity members. However, one cannot ignore Stuart Hall’s notion of enunciation whichsays “there is limitation to collective memory, which means individual should be allowed tospeak for self” (Hall, 1993). Meanwhile, the key message to surface from this study is theinfluence of Nollywood movie as a link for Diaspora members who understand the languageand content to reconnect with cultural heritage of their homeland. Nollywood thus, hasbecome a form of cultural memory that transcend through a media form. The phenomenon ofNollywood has become engaged within the film media and audience research discourse andamongst the Diasporic community members who seek out the electronic media genre of filmsand depend on them “because they catch their attention” (Chaffee and Berger, 1997). It is inthis context that Nollywood phenomenon is particularly important if we see it as a massmedia for cultural purveying.Nonetheless, the intensity of dependency and use of Nollywood movies hinges on how muchpeople perceive that the films are meeting their goals. Individuals would become moredependent on available media if their access to a medium’s alternative is limited or costly,therefore, the more alternatives there are for an individual, the lesser is the dependency onand influence of a specific medium he or she foregoes (Sun et al., 1999). The audiences areresponsible for choosing films to meet their needs if the film content makes sense to themand if they fulfill specific gratifications as derived values. The relationship between film andDiaspora audience in this regards deepens understanding of the significant relationshipbetween film content and the production of identity.

Since Diaspora audiences are dispersed groups of individuals targeted by media industriesthat offer choice programming that make sense to the groups (Livingstone, 1991), thus, theviewing of Nollywood movies extends to the way the individuals receive and interpret themovie content based on recognised cultural symbols, and by drawing upon audienceexpectancy-value (expectations) from them. Thus, producers of Nollywood films are able toposition various audiences particularly among the Anglo Africans and Caribbean communityin USA, and thus create certain amount of agreement on what they will identify with. Even if this study does not clearly present findings for a quantitative assertion, however,based on collating the data gathered, the study concludes that the idea of cultural identity andrepresentation which “remains in one’s imagination as sense of remembering and whichcould vary from one person to the other” (Hall, 1993), could sometimes be given a commonground for collective social affectation and affinity by an attracting media force such as film.Thus people with diverse national identities can group together to see movies because themovies have close connection or are marked by similarity in either or all of their culture,tradition, custom, values, or character. This study has revealed that Nollywood movies havebeen able to pool immigrant people from diverse nationalities to view them because themovies rejuvenated and rekindled a sense of cultural affinity to their homelands. Theforegoing notion is a pointer to abilities of collective memory which indicates that there aretimes when individuals though might be different from one another, will always find a wayof connecting to platform that show representation of the socio-cultural attributes they sharein common.On the other hand, this study has revealed that even though Diaspora individuals may find away of connecting to a platform such as Nollywood that shows representation of some socio-cultural attributes they share in common, they may just do so for only self benefit, memorypleasing or reminisce of their past. And subsequently do not demonstrate any signs of theimpact of the film content on their present lifestyle in their host country.This aspect of the study’s findings is not in tandem with what Robins (2003) as espousedearlier in chapter two regarding Diaspora and impact transnational film. I Robins view,transnational distribution of films was in fact, a significant cultural catalyst that influences

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FURTHER READING:Emmanuel, A. (1972) White Settler Colonialism and the Myth of InvestmentImperialism, New Left Review, no. 73 Vol 48.Débrix, R. (1968) “Le cinema Africain,” in Afrique Contemoraine, no. 40 (Nov-Dec.OCAM is an economic and cultural organization grouping the following FrancophoneAfrican countries: Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta,Niger, Benin, Toga, Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. For acritique of OCAM, see Brigette Nouaille-Degorge, “OCAM: An OutdatedOrganization,” UFAHAMU 5, no. 2 (1974): 135-47Robert Stam, R. (2000) Film Theory: an introduction, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Bazin, A. (971) What is Cinema? Essays Selected and Translated by Hugh Gray, Berkeley:University of California Press.Fishbein, M., & Raven, B. (1962). The AB scales: An operational definition of belief andattitude. Human Relations, 15, 35-44.McLuhan, H. M. (1967). The medium is the Message. New York: Bantam.Bollinger, L. (1998). Dependency and Control, Paper presented to the Annual Convention of theAssociation of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communications, Baltimore, Maryland.Katz, E., Blumler, J., & Gurevitch, M. (1974) Utilization of Mass Communication by theIndividual. In J. G. Blumler, & E. Katz (Eds.), The Uses of Mass Communications: CurrentPerspectives on Gratifications Research. Beverly Hills & London: Sage Publications.Katz, E., Blumler, J., & Gurevitch, M. (1974) Uses of mass communication by the individual. InW.P. Davison, & F.T.C. Yu (Eds.), Mass communication research: Major issues and futuredirections (pp. 11-35). New York: Praeger.Katz, E., Gurevitch, M., & Haas, H. (1973). On the use of the Mass Media for Important Things.American Sociological Review, 38, 164-181.Palmgreen, P., Wenner, L. A., & Rayburn II, J. D. (1980). Relations between GratificationsSought and Obtained: A study of television news. Communication Research, 7(2), 161-192Palmgreen, P., & Rayburn, J. D. (1985). An Expectancy-value Approach to Media Gratifications.In Rosengren, K. E. Palmgreen, P. & Wenner, L (Eds.), Media Gratification Research: CurrentPerspectives (pp. 61-72). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

APPENDIX List of the People InterviewedWho Occupation Sex Interviewed in When interviewed Method1st Nigerian, Age 25. Social Female Waterbury Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 7 years worker2nd Nigerian, Age 44. Nurse Female Waterbury Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 12 years3rd Nigerian, Age 51. IT Male Brooklyn Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 25 years consultant4th Nigerian, Age 44. Mechanic Male Brooklyn Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 14 years5th Nigerian, Age 39. Sales Male Waterbury Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 10 years manager1st Kenyan, Age 43. Chef Female Waterbury Dec. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 10 years2nd Kenyan, Age 40. Care Female Waterbury Dec. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 11 years worker1st Ghanaian, Age 30. Nurse Male Brooklyn Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 9 years2nd Ghanaian, Age 34. Care Female Brooklyn Dec. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 10 years WorkerThe Cameroonian, Age Nurse Female Waterbury Dec. 2010 Face-to-face37. Lived in USA 10years1st Jamaican, Age 43. IT Female Brooklyn Dec. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 12 years Technician2nd Jamaican, Age 28. Care Female Brooklyn Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 11 years worker3rd Jamaican, Age 40. Fire Male Brooklyn Dec. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 15 years OfficerThe Bahamian, Age 54. Midwife Female Waterbury Nov. 2010 Face-to-faceLived in USA 18 yearsThe Barbadian, Age 38. Traffic Male Brooklyn Dec. 2010 Face-to-face37. 38. Lived in USA police16years

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