Escort Kama. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
John Mark. Asaba, Nigeria, 2008
Emeka Uzzi. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Chris Nkulo and Patience Umeh. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Emeka Onu. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
John Dollar Emeka. Enugu, Nigeria 2008
Obechukwu Nwoye. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Untitled, Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Clinton Ibeto. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Song Iyke. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Gabazzini Zuo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Kelechi Nwanyeali. Engugu, Nigeria, 2009
Maureen Obise. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Tarry King Ibuzo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Casmiar Onyenwe. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Malachy Udegbunam with children. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Azuka Adindu. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Junior Ofokansi, Chetachi Ofokansi, Mpompo Ofokansi. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Omo Omeonu, Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Fidelis Elenwa. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Emilia Ibeh, Doris Orji and Sharon Opiah. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Ngozi Oltiri. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Ibegbu Natty. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Rose Njoku. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Izunna Onwe and Uju Mbamalu. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Malachy Udegbunam. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Dike Ngube and Gold Gabriel. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Princess Adaobi. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Thompson. Asaba, Nigeria, 2008
Chommy Choko Eli, Florence Owanta, Kelechi Anwuacha. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Major Okolo and Do Somtin. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Untitled, Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Song Iyke with onlookers. Enugu, Nigeria. 2008
Linus Okereke. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
Chigozie Nechi. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Chika Onyejekwe, Junior Ofokansi, Thomas Okafor. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Pieter Hugo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009
Mr Enblo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008
NOLLYWOOD
Nollywood is said to be the third largest film industry in the world, releasing onto the home video market approximately 1 000 movies each year.
Such abundance is possible since films are realized in conditions that would make most of the western independent directors cringe. Movies are produced and marketed in the space of a week: low cost equipment, very basic scripts, actors cast the day of the shooting, “real life” locations. Despite the improvised production process, they continue to fascinate audiences.
In Africa, Nollywood movies are a rare instance of self-representation in the mass media.
The continent has a rich tradition of story-telling that has been expressed abundantly through oral and written fiction, but has never been conveyed through the mass media before.
Movies tell stories that appeal to and reflect the lives of its public: stars are local actors; plots confront the viewer with familiar situations of romance, comedy, witchcraft, bribery, prostitution. The narrative is overdramatic, deprived of happy endings, tragic. The aesthetic is loud, violent, excessive; nothing is said, everything is shouted.
In his travels through West Africa, Hugo has been intrigued by this distinct style in constructing a fictional world where everyday and unreal elements intertwine.
By asking a team of actors and assistants to recreate Nollywood myths and symbols as if they were on movie sets, Hugo initiated the creation of a verisimilar reality.
His vision of the film industry’s interpretation of the world results in a gallery of hallucinatory and unsettling images.
The tableaux of the series depict situations clearly surreal but that could be real on a set; furthermore, they are rooted in the local symbolic imaginary. The boundaries between documentary and fiction become very fluid, and we are left wondering whether our perceptions of the real world are indeed real.
Federica Angelucci