Paris showcases Nigerian cinema and society as Nollywood comes to town

"Nollywood Week" has kicked off in the French capital. With this year's focus on animated film and virtual reality productions, the festival proves Nigeria has the goods when it comes to technology. It also holds a mirror up to a complex and evolving Nigerian society, says festival founder Serge Noukoué.

Eleven features and seven shorts make the line-up. For the first time since the festival was founded 11 years ago they include virtual reality films – an immersive 360° experience with headphones – and animation.

“We don't spontaneously associate Africa with these technological advances," says festival founder Serge Noukoué. "Yet the continent, and Nigeria in particular, is at the cutting edge of these new ways of telling stories."

That's something organisers wanted to highlight this year with new media as well as with mediums such as video games.

"It's really a kind of new expansion of African cinema,” Noukoué adds.

Among the virtual reality films is Daughters of Chibok, about the abduction of the Chibok high school girls just over 10 years ago in northern Nigeria. The film won the award for best virtual reality story at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.

Thanks to Nollywood – a term used to describe the country's mass-produced, low-budget productions for streaming platforms – Nigeria has the second biggest film industry after India in terms of numbers, with 2,000 productions a year.

"I think Nigerian cinema is certainly one of the best mirrors of Nigerian society," says Noukoué.

Read more on RFI English

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