First Hollywood. Next Bollywood. Now Nollywood!

Sometimes I think I don't know anything.  Today is the first time I've ever heard about Nollywood.  And for those of you in the same boat as I am, the "N" is not a typo.

Source: This Is Nollywood



"Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry, is the world's third largest producer of feature films. Unlike Hollywood and Bollywood, however, Nollywood movies are made on shoe-string budgets of time and money. An average production takes just 10 days and costs approximately $15,000."  [Source: ThisIsNollywood.com]  I had no idea. 

Nelson George, an African-American author, filmmaker, television producer, and critic, posted a link to a New York Times article on his Facebook page today about pirated Nollywood films being seized in Brooklyn.  Evidently, Brooklyn has a large community of Nollywood fans and bootleg Nollywood videos have been selling since the 90s.  Again, I had no idea.  Is it because I live in California?  "The Nigerian film representatives said Brooklyn had become one of the largest Nollywood audiences outside of Africa, with the films becoming popular not just among African immigrants, but also among African-Americans and people from the Caribbean."  [Source: Nytimes.com]  Wasn't I just in New York?

I found a 2 minute trailer to a documentary called "This is Nollywood" directed by Italian filmmaker Franco Sacchi whose TED presentation I have also posted (see below).  You can read his statement here.  Now I want to see a Nollywood film.  Like now.  I don't care if they are B movies.

Do you know about Nollywood?!!?!?