Media News - Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Nigeria rivals India in film, video production - UNESCO survey

India remains the world's leading film producer but Niger ia is closing the gap after overtaking the US for second place, according to a global cinema survey conducted by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). According to the survey, Bollywood (India) produced 1,091 feature-length films in 2006 compared to 872 productions (in video format) from Nigeria's film industry, which is commonly referred to as Nollywood. In contrast, the US produced 485 major films. The three heavyweights (India, Nigeria and US) are followed by eight countries that produced more than 100 films -- Japan (417), China (330), France (203), Germany (174), Spain (150), Italy (116), South Korea (110) and the United Kingdom (104). Overall, the survey yielded data from 99 countries and response rates were limited especially among African countries where there is a general lack of statistical information on cultural issues. Despite its limited coverage, the survey provides a unique perspective on how different countries and regions are transforming traditional approaches to the art and industry of film making especially in video and digital formats. In particular, the explosive growth of Nollywood attracts considerable attention, especially in developing countries looking for alternatives to the US or European models of film production and distribution, which require considerable investment. The UIS survey revealed another key element of the Nigerian success story - multilingualism. (Afrique en ligne)

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