Nigeria is blessed with creative, talented people; drop a pin anywhere in the country and you will find talent in film, music, arts, and sports. For years, I have studied and observed, and it pains me to report that only a few creatives listen or even want criticism.
This article features quotes from our exclusive interview with Taiwo Egunjobi.
A big issue in Nigerian society is the “do you know who I am” mentality. We see this in our everyday life: you tell your dad, your boss, celebrities, colleagues, and even politicians that what they are doing is wrong, and they don’t fail to remind you who they are, how big they are, and even how rich they are. The worst are those who keep telling you how rich they are.
In Nollywood, we have these types of people. For some reason, they let you know how much and how long it takes to produce the films. When they talk about the hard work it takes to produce what you see on screen, you feel for them; trust me, I do. I understand. The big problem is that this could apply to every other profession, and the consequences could be life-threatening. Of course, filmmaking isn’t medicine, but I don’t think the average Joe who works 9 to 5 and watches three movies a year in theatres would be happy to watch a mediocre film.
Film critics are the bridge between filmmakers and audiences. The West has Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Letterboxd and Metacritic, which also review games; these platforms help the general audience decide what to watch and provide quality control for filmmakers.
In the 2010s, Bollywood had some of the worst CGI you could imagine; now, that’s not the case in most of their movies. A critic rating is not the enemy; audiences and critics want better for Nollywood, and when we criticise, we want the best.
Destructive criticism exists, but the idea that people should fear criticising films is wrong. As Taiwo Egunjobi puts it, “If I’m being honest with you, I don’t even consider those destructive criticism, because destructive to who? It can only be destructive to somebody who allows you to destroy his work.” Criticism should start from the scriptwriting stage; that’s why script editors exist, but unfortunately our producers choose not to hire them.
What Filmmakers and Critics Should Do
My plea to all industry shareholders is, if we want growth, we need to take criticism from both critics and the audience seriously. Learn what works and what doesn’t and apply that to your next project. “We must be ready to accept criticism, we must be ready to listen to criticism. And even if you don’t agree, you must grant people the opportunity to do it, you know, as long as, they are respectful or you are reasonable about it,” said Taiwo Egunjobi.
To the ‘professional” film critics and reviewers, remember professionalism is the name of the game. If you want Nollywood movies to continue to grow, you must apply a sense of professionalism and be constructive in your criticism.
“My own note to critics at that point in time is that, you know, if your goal is to be able to reach across to filmmakers and get your opinions heard, then there’s a particular standard that you should be aiming for if you are trying to have a dialogue. And if you’re also trying to reach out to the audience and become an authority or a cultural commentator on films for the audience, then there’s also a language and a way to go about it. You know, everybody should have a strategy and go and try to achieve that strategy as best as possible. So kudos to everybody. Keep doing what you want to do.” – Taiwo Egunjobi.