For many, Sundays are the sabbath, a day to rest and prepare for the week. But for Nollywood fans, Sundays are for the Nollywood Film Club powered by Iroko Critic. It’s been four years since Mr C, the co-host, created a PSA inviting people to join the weekly conversations revolving around Nollywood.
Before the advent of Nollywood Film Club, the couple had a Youtube channel, Mr C describes as “semi successful” where they watched movies and reviewed weekly. The idea of a film club flirted with him when he realized how long it took to put up a video. “I wanted to be able to provide content that was much quicker. Something without as much effort like our prepared videos,” he explains.
The birth of the review channel and Nollywood Film Club shares a source of their existence; love. “I guess what made us start the review channel was that we love films in general anyway. We do love films,” he asserts. Choosing to centre Nollywood was a choice influenced by their love for film, the saturation of the Hollywood film market, and the limited coverage of the Nollywood sphere.
However, when you look at the investment put in, the love factor stands out as the biggest motivator, “There was certainly love in there to do this. Say whatever you want to say about us but you can’t do this job where you are not really getting paid for this long without something driving you and it’s not hate.”
On several occasions, the club has been referred to as trolls or accused of having a personal vendetta against filmmakers, but Mr C reaffirms the group’s purpose, “We just wanted to discuss movies with other people. That’s it. And it’s very simple.” Mr C is not too bothered about criticisms. “As long as we make criticisms, people are allowed to criticize us. Calling us trolls is not really saying much, is it?” he states.
Nollywood has existed for years without proper media coverage detailing and critiquing its movement, so it is plausible to say that it has gotten used to applause and that a critical analysis of its work is viewed as antagonism. Mr C’s thoughts on Nollywood’s behavior around criticism mirror this sentiment: “Like I said, it’s not really saying anything. It’s just dismissing us, which again, you’re fine to do. Oftentimes, it’s just a way to run away from criticism.”
Their love for films, which extends to Nigerian cinema, is sometimes barraged by these baseless accusations that one becomes blind to the sacrifices attached to managing a film club every Sunday. If anything, this self-imposed task, taken willingly by themselves, emphasizes their love for cinema. “If we decide tomorrow, we don’t want to do Nollywood Film Club for that week, nothing is going to happen. The world will still rotate. Some people will go, ‘Where’s Nollywood Film Club?’ We will ask questions, but the world will keep spinning,” he expands on the breadth and width of their voluntary commitment.
“Imagine doing that about 48 times a year every Sunday. All right, have you pictured it? You don’t quite get it. Now imagine what it’s like living knowing that every Sunday, six o’clock, you need to find about two hours for hosting,” he adds, solidifying the hard work that comes with the territory.”
Hosting a film club that pulls in hundreds is no easy feat, but Mr C does it like he is slipping a glove down his hands. “I like to be a good host. Some level of preparation is required for it. How long should we give speakers? Should they be able to speak forever? Are you allowed to cut off? When is it okay to cut off? If you can cut off some people, does everybody get equal time? There are a bunch of things that go into all of this.” He explains.
“There’s also obviously managing conflicts. A lot of people know about external ones, but there are internal ones too, regarding the Film club. But these things will happen because none of us is perfect. A lot of this is relatively still new, and people are still coming to terms with the idea of what Film Club means.” He continues.
Beyond the conflicts, the topic of discussion can also be in contention. “Coming up with topics these days since Netflix and Prime’s departure is something. Thinking about what things are interesting enough to gain interest in the topic. It can’t be too vague, if not, it would be very difficult to steer the conversation, and it can’t be too specific, or else you’re asking people to do too much homework. It’s a lot.”
The cost of powering the film club has also come knocking, “I remember one time I hosted the film club on Mrs. C’s birthday and she still hasn’t forgiven me for that one,” he quips. Their burden is eased by a supportive community. They recently went on holiday and were able to hand the keys to a member. But they still attended the club meetings, “It’s always nice to attend the Film club as an audience member. You don’t have any pressure to always be on, always be listening.”
Luckily, this labour of love has not gone unnoticed. “A couple of Nollywood filmmakers have both publicly and privately supported us. I think for Inside Nollywood, being asked to be mentors for the fellowship that they do was a nice gesture,” he muses. They have been cited as the top three film podcasts in Nigeria, as the meeting is usually converted into an audio podcast. They also made the Nollywood 100 list, contributing to the growth and greatness of Nollywood by Ebony and YNaija. “If you think about it, it feels silly to put us on the same stage as actual talented, both up-and-coming and established people,” he jokes.
But the achievement personal to him is the attendance “I think the biggest for me, the thing I don’t take for granted, our biggest achievement, is that every Sunday, 6 p.m., we turn on that space and I know people will come listen to us and that’s not always been the case.”
Receiving validation for your work in pockets of compliments, recognition, and other forms of support is a top feeling, but Mr C is cautious; he does not want the praises to rot his brain.
“I downplay a lot of what I do in my head. I do that because that’s the way I know how to keep myself motivated. I don’t even believe the downplaying I’m doing, but I do that intentionally so as not to get my head big and full that I lose my way because that’s easy to do,” he spells out.
“One of my favorite topics I teach in the Inside Nollywood fellowship is audience capture. Audience capture happens when a lot of people or a few people praise you and tell you, ‘you’re so great,’ and you listen to them and start following them. Then you say something else that they don’t like, and because they don’t like it, you stop saying that thing. You have to follow them. I’m very aware of that, so I keep on fighting that,” he specifies.
Nollywood Film Club has been called many things but Mr C takes the stage to define it one more time “Nollywood Film Club is a bunch of people, anyone from somebody who just watched a movie yesterday to a filmmaker who has directed many movies that have gone to cinema, to Netflix, to all these streaming platforms. It’s anybody who wants to discuss movies every Sunday at 6pm. We just like discussing movies and we do it very regularly.”
