The Creative Menopause Syndrome in Nollywood Video Films: A Lingering Deficiency

Abstract

The Nigerian movie industry, otherwise popularly known as Nollywood, is arguably Africa’s largest film industry and ranked amongst the top three film industries in the world. With a prolific output of over a thousand productions annually leading to a humongous popularity, Nollywood is without a doubt a staple in many African households and beyond. Obviously, the industry has evolved over the years by leaps and bounds giving the top-notch quality of some productions in recent times. However, despite this evolutionary stride being made, the quality of majority of movies coming out of the industry have predominantly remained shaky and dreary. It is seemingly a case of moving in a circle of creative dearth with many Nollywood video films often failing to inspire any major shift in contents and narrative styles. This study, thus, looks at the creativity question as well as the lack of creative impetus which has continued to characterise and constitute a major downside of Nollywood video films. Anchored on the theory of creativity espoused by Kozbelt, Beghetto and Runco, this study finds the dearth of creativity to be a serious lingering deficiency which has and or is eating deep into the fabrics of Nollywood, making the industry a subject of protracted scathing criticism and an object of universal derision. Hence, by way of conclusion and recommendation, it is imperative Nollywood filmmakers improve upon their artistry in filmmaking and not sacrifice creativity – what is significantly required to make a movie of good quality – on the altar of rushed production for quick cash.