Popular Nollywood director Niyi Akinmolayan says classism is one of the biggest issues facing the Nigerian film industry today.
Akinmolayan, one of the highest-grossing filmmakers in Nigeria, recently tweeted how new Nollywood struggles with classism. However, the Prophetess director did not elaborate on why he thought so. The Anthill Studios founder tweeted: “Classism is a big problem in new Nollywood sha. But I won’t start that discussion today.”
Check out the tweet below:
The filmmaker’s tweet then attracted reactions from filmmakers Isioma Osaje and Naz Onuzo, both confirming that the industry struggles with an elitist culture where certain opportunities are available to a certain class.
According to Onuzo, the class culture in Nollywood made it difficult for new filmmakers and actors to enter the industry or succeed in it. Onuzo tweeted, “There’s classism, and there’s privilege. Both are combining in a not great way because of the steep requirements to break in. I say this as a beneficiary of both. Figuring out how to democratise access is a problem with no obvious solutions.”
Recently, Onuzo had a similar discussion with FilmOne founder Moses Babatope about the existence of a cabal within the film industry. “I won’t identify with a cabal but I will say that there is a group of progressive thinkers, risk-takers, implementers that have shown a level of consistency. There is a group that exists and it is almost easy to identify”, Babatope said.
However, other filmmakers like Blessing Egbe have expressed concerns about certain industry movers and shakers blacklisting her. Similarly, actress Adunni Ade revealed that she lost roles and opportunities for reasons she didn’t know.
Maybe in time, Akinmolayan will reveal the details behind this statement and we will be here to report it.