Nollywood Babylon

According to this documentary from Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, the world's third-largest film industry is based in Nigeria—but so-called “Nollywood,” unlike its larger Hollywood and Bollywood counterparts, isn't technically a “film” industry. Instead, it's more of a hodgepodge of shot-on-video productions made on the cheap (usually for $10,000 or less) and distributed exclusively to the African home-video market (35mm cinemas are relatively rare throughout the sub-Saharan nations). As many as 2,500 titles are turned out by Lagos-based auteurs each year, and, not surprisingly, Nollywood isn't lacking in colorful characters. Of particular interest is prolific director Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, who is captured here wrapping up his 157th feature while taking two weeks to prepare principal photography for his 158th. Then there is Helen Ukpabio, an evangelical minister with a 50,000-person congregation who believes the future of spreading the Lord's message (and her church's influence) will be through Nollywood movies. By Western standards, Nigerian filmmaking tends to be overenthusiastic in its acting and underwhelming in its visual panache—those wondering about the Nollywood equivalent of Citizen Kane should know that commerce constantly trumps art and enthusiasm frequently outruns talent. Considering that Nollywood titles remain completely unknown to the U.S. DVD market, Nollywood Babylon offers a compelling introduction to this noisy and vibrant entertainment mecca. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)