The Problem With Cinemas in Nigeria- Ishaya Bako

Kogi State, born filmmaker, Ishaya Bako has that filmmakers in Nigeria are unable to make the most dividend from cinemas because the business is still largely at the embryonic stage in the country.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Entertainment News, Bako who is preparing for the release of his latest film, 4th Republic explained that filmmakers in Nigeria are faced with the daunting task of making good sales at the cinemas for a number of reasons.

The first of this according to him is the fact that the country has less than 100 cinema screens servicing almost 200 million people in the country. In addition to this, Bako opined that the cinema culture in Nigeria is still at its toddling stage given that people have been accustomed to sitting in the comfort of their homes to watch home videos in the recent past and streaming services that have made film making more accessible at home.  He noted that in all of these, indigenous films compete with internationally made films at the cinemas. He spoke about his last film which was released last year February about the same time that the Hollywood made Black Panther was released. “How are you going to compete with that,” Bako asked rhetorically

Bako said that the political thriller 4th Republic aims at amongst others, calling for more inclusion of women in the politics of the country as well as drawing the attention of ordinary Nigerians to the role that they should play in the development of the country.

4th Republic which features Kate Henshaw, Bimbo Manuel, Linda Ejifor, Eyinna Nwigwe, Yakubu Mohammed, Sani Mu’azu and Jide Attah among others is inspired by the volatile, cut throat nature of politics that is practised in Nigeria. Bako says it copious insights were derived from incidents from Rivers, Taraba, Akwa Ibom and some other states during the 2015 elections. The film is due for cinema release on April 12.