In 2015, Fifty, the movie directed by Biyi Bandele for Ebony Life Films, got on Netflix, the world’s largest online subscription-based streaming service. It was a big deal then, and still is a big deal today to be on that kind of massive platform (which now reaches about 149 million people in 190 countries, nearly every country in the world except China). And that was even before the advent of Netflix Nigeria in 2016. So much has happened since then. Once in a while, an announcement of another Netflix ‘first’ in Nigeria or Africa is made. That’s how Lionheart (in which Genevieve Nnaji acted and directed) became Netflix’s first original production in Nigeria in 2018.
By the way, I also include Beasts of No Nation on the list of Nollywood films because of the Nigerian connection. Although it’s directed by an American, Cary Fukunaga, and is an original Netflix film, I like to appropriate it. Not only is it based on the book of the same title by Uzodinma Iweala (and to an extent, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s song), Iweala is also one of the film’s producers.
Anyhow, 2019 has proved to be a bumper year for Nollywood on Netflix. The number of films on the platform keeps going up. Films such as The Wedding Party, The Arbitration and many others are now on the platform. In January 2019, there were about 29 Nollywood films on Netflix. Between then and now, many more films have got on, including Chief Daddy by Niyi Akinmolayan and Ishaya Bako’s Road To Yesterday. In September, Kunle Afolayan put all his films (except Omugwo which features Patience Ozokwor and Ayo Adesanya) on Netflix— Phone Swap with Nse Ikpe Etim, The Bridge, The Figurine (starring Ramsey Nouah and Omoni Oboli), The CEO starring Wale Ojo and Angelique Kidjo, and his latest, Mokalik.
October saw the addition of films like Kemi Adetiba’s King of Boys, Up North and New Money by Tope Oshin. 93, the movie on the Ebola crisis directed by Steve Gukas and starring Bimbo Akintola and Gideon Okeke; and Bling Lagosians by Bolanle Austen-Peters were also added. The list is long, so you’ll have to check it out for yourself. This is an opportunity, especially for people outside Nigeria, to catch up on films they haven’t been able to see. I’m trying to see as many as I can and I will keep you posted. So far, I’ve seen Chief Daddy, King of Boys, Mokalik, New Money, Merry Men, Bling Lagosians, Up North, among others.
Meanwhile, in typical Nigerian style, not everyone is happy about Nollywood’s ‘rain of films’ on Netflix. A few weeks ago, I mentioned a young woman who dismissively said all the Nollywood films on Netflix were trash— that is not true. There are also those who initially thought Netflix would be one mountain too big for Nigerian filmmakers to scale. Now that the seeming impossible achievement is becoming an even bigger reality, they’re almost saying, ‘What’s the big deal’? It’s only fair not to change the goal post at this point.
Lest we miss the point, there’s no way that the push by filmmakers to get on Netflix won’t have a positive impact on the technical quality of their films.
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