by MATTHEW HAYS

The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma has long been cherished as an event that heralds movies that are off the beaten path. The less conventional, the better. Indeed, FNC programmers have done a great job of drawing attention to the rarely seen, out-of-the-way film projects.

This year proves no exception. The 34th edition of FNC includes a tribute to the cinema of Nigeria, easily the fastest growing national film industry in the world. In the past 15 years, the Nigerian film biz has seen astonishing expansion, with the country churning out approximately 1,000 movies per year. In terms of output, that means Nollywood is third behind Hollywood and Bollywood. This has occurred because the Nigerians have a voracious appetite for their own stories, while the development of new, inexpensive video equipment has meant that a two-part feature film project shot on video can cost as little as $10,000. That’s beyond shoestring by Western standards, but like Bollywood films, Nigerian films (which have come to be called “Nollywood” films) pack enough action, intrigue, smut and romance to fit into 10 standard Hollywood films.

FNC has arranged the added bonus of a special Nollywood guest: Geneviève Nnaji, the queen of Nollywood and Nigerian cinema’s first breakout superstar, will be jetting in for the fun. Nnaji will present Private Sin, one of four Nollywood films screening at FNC. In it, Nnaji plays the type of vixen many of her fans have come to expect her to—a trampy wife who causes all sorts of hell for her well-meaning pastor husband. “Yes, some of my fans see me in that role,” Nnaji acknowledges, on the phone from her Nigerian home. “But you know, I’ve done more romantic roles than I’ve done bad-girl roles. Sometimes, you do a memorable role and that’s all that people can see. I don’t find it frustrating though. If I’ve convinced someone that I’m a vixen, then that’s fulfilling to me.”

Nnaji says that she’s glad to have been a part of changing attitudes towards the Nigerian film business itself. For a long time, Nigerians saw the film industry as something negative, and the people behind it as sleazy. “You try to show a good example. I think the attitudes towards actors in general has changed. You can play a villain and when the part is done, you can be seen as a good person. I’m glad I’ve been able to contribute to that. It’s not about the fame or money, it’s about making good films.

“For a long time in Nigeria, it was thought that only professional jobs counted, like being a lawyer or a doctor. No one recognized ours as professional jobs. But now they are. Some parents are wanting their kids to be actors or broadcasters on television.”

Rice bags and reefer madness

Though Nnaji does not appear in it, one of the craziest entries in the Nollywood series is undoubtedly Teco Benson’s Highway to the Grave, a far-out look at the morality and strange internal logic of a certain strain of Nigerian cinema. This film is a glaring example of what’s come to be known as the Hallelujah film, a sub-genre in which people are warned of the consequences of straying from conventional morality. The lessons are laid out about as subtly as they were for Western audiences with 1936’s Reefer Madness, with those straying from the flock suffering devastating results. A group of mermaids with magical powers lure men into lustful situations, leaving the men to find that the hot babe they are necking with might suddenly turn into—a bag of rice! Meanwhile, the seducing practical jokers have a good laugh back at Mermaids Headquarters as they watch their victims’ reactions after being tricked into compromising situations on a magical TV screen. Strange acting combined with production values that evoke early ’70s John Waters movies—not to mention grade-Z cheeseball special effects—added to the film’s loopy, wayward plot, making for a good deal of unintentional hilarity. Evangelical moviemaking at its very best, Highway to the Grave is the rough cinematic equivalent of a fiery sermon by Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. Indeed, the temptations of Satan are just about everywhere. Listen up, men who consider sleeping around on their wives: If you slut about, you could end up sucking on a bag of rice.

THE NOLLYWOOD FILMS SCREEN AS PART OF THE FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINÉMA, OCT. 13–23. INFO: 844-2172 OR WWW.NOUVEAUCINEMA.CA

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