Award-winning filmmaker Jade Osiberu has backed director Niyi Akinmolayan’s call for filmmakers to challenge what she described as misleading narratives about Nollywood and international streaming platforms.
Her comments came in response to filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan, who recently urged industry professionals to put an end to what he described as a misleading narrative.
She claimed that a first-time producer amplified “baseless claims” during media appearances in a bid to promote a film, while many filmmakers, frustrated by the sudden loss of opportunities with streaming platforms, embraced rumours and gossip instead of facts.
She said: “The narrative started from within the industry, not the audience, and it’s still being spread by people who work in the industry.”
Adding that many people found it easier to blame individuals they could see rather than acknowledge broader economic realities.
She said: “It came across to me like a lot of people were waiting their turn to get the opportunity to work with or licence to the streamers and rather abruptly that opportunity disappeared.
She continued: “She People then took whispers and gossip that had been going around for years and mixed that in with their disappointment to birth hot resentment for all the people who they had felt had been blocking them from those opportunities to begin with. Because, of course, it’s easier to blame people you can see than some abstract government.”
Osiberu also criticised sections of the Nigerian media for reporting speculation as fact.
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She argued that many publications ignored the fact that foreign companies were pulling out of several sectors of the economy, not just entertainment, and failed to place Nollywood’s challenges within Nigeria’s wider economic situation.
She further pointed to a ThisDay article that used Gangs of Lagos to illustrate the narrative, despite the film being privately funded before it was later acquired by a streaming platform.
She added: “People remove all logic when discussing our industry. It’s all sensational and emotional.”