Video film era

This article is part of a series in
Culture of Nigeria
Society Nigerians History Languages Holidays Religion
Topics Architecture Cinema Cuisine Festivals Literature Media Newspapers Television Music Sports Video gaming
Symbols Flag Coat of arms Anthem Miss Nigeria World Heritage Sites
Religion and folklore Islam Christianity Judaism Igbo Jews Irreligion Secularism Folk beliefs
Art Arts Igbo-Ukwu Kingdom of Benin Yoruba Architecture
Cuisine Jollof rice Afang Abacha Amala Eba Edikang ikong Owo Pounded yam Ukodo Egusi Puff-puff
Festivals Igue Ikeji Imo Awka Golibe New Yam Festivals Olokun Omabe Sango Umatu Oronna
Literature Hausa Yoruba Igbo Edo Efik Onitsha Market Third Generation of Nigerian writers
Nigeria portal
v t e

The video film era, also known as the home video era, is a period in Nigerian cinema, typically from the late 1980s / early 1990s to mid 2010s, when Nigerian films were made using affordable video format.^[1] The video boom era emerged after the downturn of the Golden era of the Nigerian cinema in the late 1980s.^[1] The term "home video" stems from the concept of staying at home to watch the films, in contrast to films of the Golden Age that were watched at the movie theatres.^[2]

The beginnings of the video film market in Nigeria is traced back to the 1980s when television productions thrived. Many of the television productions often found their ways into VHS, leading to the development of a small scale informal video trade.^[3] This method was adopted and built on by producers and distributors at Alaba market to reinvent the film industry which was at the time facing a major decline.^[3] The first full home movie produced in Nigeria was Kenneth Nnebue' s Living in bondage. This was the first to get such a reach that the genre now acquired the term home videos. However there may have been one or two dramas on tape before then. But their influence or reach was not considered enough to have created the home movie industry. The Kenneth Nnebue's Living in Bondage was considered the first home video because it had the reach, the general acceptance and instituted the first major competition against the theater and television culture prevalent in the era. It mid-wifed the home video era.^[4]

This era marked an all-time peak in the number of Nigerian film productions. As at 2004, at least four to five films were produced every day in Nigeria, and the movies already dominated television screens across the African continent and by extension, the Caribbeans and the diaspora,^[4][5] with the movies significantly influencing cultures in many African nations,^[6] and the film actors becoming household names across the continent.^[4] The boom also led to backlash against Nigerian films in several countries, who supposedly wanted to prevent "recolonization" by Nigeria (or "Nigerialization of Africa"). There have been reported cases of raids on shops selling Nigerian films,^[6][7] and governments who have introduced protectionist measures, such as introducing taxes for production houses and/or actors who want to shoot films in their countries,^[5][8] as well as the outright banning of Nigerian films.^[5]

In this era, Nigeria's film industry grew to become a big employer of labour in Nigeria, providing over a million jobs and contributing about 5% of the GDP.^[9] At the peak of the era at around 2008, the industry had become the second largest producer of films,^[10] releasing approximately 200 video films monthly.^[11][5]Copyright infringement was also at its peak, with production houses running at a loss and closing down their outfits.^{[4][9][11][12][13]} This development led to the need to revamp the film industry, with the birth of New Nigerian cinema.^[14]