This was a shocking question posed to HVP recently in Nairobi by two Kenyan female film makers, who wanted to ascertain why most of Nollywood movies are marked by themes of witch-crafts, voodooism and unrealistic love affairs, which according to them, portray Nigeria as a haven of ferry tales.
The film makers, Mercy Murugi and Janet Kanini-Muiva, respectively expressed shocks and reservations concerning the way and manner, in which these horrible themes are celebrated in the Nigerian movies. They asserted that judging from the Nollywood movies they have watched so far, many Kenyans have the impression that Nigeria is a traditional home of witches.
HVP ran into Murugi and Janet at a function in Nairobi recently. Murugi specializes in making short and feature films as well as documentaries, while Janet is a film maker and TV presenter. In another encounter, the producers said while Nollywood is making waves, as second largest film industry in the world, the movies are relatively unpopular in Kenya.
“Kenyans know more of Hollywood, Bollywood than they do know about the existence of Nollywood,” they stressed, adding that, “ Nigerian films really do apply to Nigerians. Out of the few Nigerian movies we have watched, there is a lot of witch craft, voodoo; references made to witch craft and disparities in Christendom.
That’s not peculiar to Kenyans. We have witch craft here also, but it’s nothing that we should be making films about it, as it’s the case in Nigeria,” one of them said.
Murugi, however, acknowledged how Nigerian film makers have been able to use the big screen to tell the Nigerian story, in such a way that they get people from other countries to become interested in the their own story.
“This is what the Kenyan film makers are trying to achieve: to learn to tell the Kenyan story and make them interesting enough for people from other countries to watch,” he went on.
In Kenya, Nollywood movies are relatively scarce, only house-wives,maids and Nigerians residing in that country may show interest in such movies.
“This is the group of people that watches Nigerian films in Kenya. “Out of 10 people who watch Nollywood films in Kenya, not up to 4 persons will want to procure them for keeps,” he added.
Most Kenyans, according Murugi, prefer to watch Nollywood movies on Africa Magic, which they believe is cheaper, and afford them the opportunity to watch different movies at different times.
For Janet, Kenyans are disposed to watching Hollywood and Bollywood, than they are to Nollywood. “The latest Hollywood movies are brought into the country by Chinese because it’s much cheaper to buy here in Kenya.
Yes, we do watch Africa Magic, but the viewership here is not all that large, ” she stated.
A producer of immense repute, Murugi has worked on projects with National Geographic, Discovery Channel, NBC-Universal, all in Kenya. She co-owns Hot Sun Films, an award-winning film/video production company based in Nairobi. Hot Sun Films, according to her, taps new talents and tells stories from and about people seldom seen on screen.
“We make films to entertain, raise awareness and cause social transformation. Through our non-profit arm, Hot Sun Foundation, we train and develop new talents amongst the youth and the children of the urban slums of Africa. My biggest project yet being the successful production of Hot Sun Films feature film, Togetherness Supreme, which is now on post production, she explained.
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