Abstract

Rather than pursue characterisations of Nollywood ¹ as a maverick industry advancing on the global stage, or as slapdash movies for the masses, this chapter engages with an ongoing media refashioning, or remediation, of Nigerian movies. This approach aims to keep in mind both the “then” and “now” of the movement as well as its diversity—the flows and ebbs that began with its video origins in the early 1990s (usually traced to Kenneth Nnebue’s Living in Bondage [1992, Nigeria]), moving into an era of popular and widely bootlegged VCDs, then in 2006 unexpectedly lauded as the third largest film producer in the world. By 2009, according to a UNESCO report, Nollywood had overtaken Hollywood to become the second largest globally in terms of films produced (United Nations 2009). More recently delineations of a “new Nollywood” have been taking shape, structured around moves towards transnational collaborations, larger budgets, and international success both in terms of festival visibility and positive reviews.