In California, we have Hollywood, in India, Bollywood. In Nigeria, the heart of African comedy movies is called Nollywood. In terms of the numbers of films produced, Nollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world. South Africa and Yoruba (West African tribe) also have bustling cinema industries. For the cinema buff who wants a peek at how the rest of the world lives, African film comedies is a great place to start.
One film that is perhaps ironically billed as a Nigerian comedy is "Four Forty" (2012). Most of the scenes are played out on wooden tables and chairs in the gardens of a dusty village. Even with English dubbing, it is hard to find the comedy in this tale about a dull middle aged fart who takes advantage of an innocent teenager who is confined to a wheelchair. Eight weeks later in the story, the girls' parents are frogmarching her to his pad, demanding he take her off their hands. It is not hard to work out what has transpired here. Maybe the funny comes out in the sequel.
"The Gods Must Be Crazy" (South Africa, 1980) is the first film in a series set in Botswana. There is one official sequel and three unofficial sequels that were produced in Hong Kong. The film tells the story of Xi, whose tribe is completely unaware of the world that lies beyond. The film stars N!xau, a San farmer from Namibia. The film kicked off a brilliant career in cinema in which he emerged as Namibia's most famous actor. Sadly, N!xau died in 2003 of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis while out hunting guinea fowl.
Among other things, "The Mangler" (1995) serves to illustrate the broad spectrum and richness of the genre. Here, a folding machine based in a laundry turns out to be possessed by the devil. Directed by Tobe Hooper and based on a short story by Stephen King called "The Night Shift, " which was published in a Stephen King anthology. The critics weren't impressed but with that pedigree and story line, it's a hard one to pass up.
The Yorubans are a group from West Africa, specifically the southwestern regions of Nigeria and Benin. Over the years, they have emerged as a genre of their very own in African film circles. The most recent offering is "Eko Onibaje" (2014), a story about a man who joins a group of crooks that fraudulently obtain money by posing as disabled.
Burkina Faso's "Yaaba" (1989) does not meet the classical criteria of a comedy film but it is one of the most significant to come out of Africa. It illustrates a modern conundrum of having to choose between modernization, and hence westernization, and retaining its own cultural identity.
The Nightingale's Prayer (Egypt, 1959) a damning analysis of gender inequality in Arabic society, was one of the most salient films to come out of Egypt. The film was directed by Henry Bakarat and based on the novel by Taha Hussein.
One of the best things about the intriguing genre of African comedy movies is their accessibility. Abundantly available for streaming over the Internet, hopefully someone will one day identify the comedy in Nollywood's "Four Forty." For a cinema buff looking for something out of the ordinary, this is a fantastic option and would make a great category for trivial pursuit-type questions.
One film that is perhaps ironically billed as a Nigerian comedy is "Four Forty" (2012). Most of the scenes are played out on wooden tables and chairs in the gardens of a dusty village. Even with English dubbing, it is hard to find the comedy in this tale about a dull middle aged fart who takes advantage of an innocent teenager who is confined to a wheelchair. Eight weeks later in the story, the girls' parents are frogmarching her to his pad, demanding he take her off their hands. It is not hard to work out what has transpired here. Maybe the funny comes out in the sequel.
"The Gods Must Be Crazy" (South Africa, 1980) is the first film in a series set in Botswana. There is one official sequel and three unofficial sequels that were produced in Hong Kong. The film tells the story of Xi, whose tribe is completely unaware of the world that lies beyond. The film stars N!xau, a San farmer from Namibia. The film kicked off a brilliant career in cinema in which he emerged as Namibia's most famous actor. Sadly, N!xau died in 2003 of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis while out hunting guinea fowl.
Among other things, "The Mangler" (1995) serves to illustrate the broad spectrum and richness of the genre. Here, a folding machine based in a laundry turns out to be possessed by the devil. Directed by Tobe Hooper and based on a short story by Stephen King called "The Night Shift, " which was published in a Stephen King anthology. The critics weren't impressed but with that pedigree and story line, it's a hard one to pass up.
The Yorubans are a group from West Africa, specifically the southwestern regions of Nigeria and Benin. Over the years, they have emerged as a genre of their very own in African film circles. The most recent offering is "Eko Onibaje" (2014), a story about a man who joins a group of crooks that fraudulently obtain money by posing as disabled.
Burkina Faso's "Yaaba" (1989) does not meet the classical criteria of a comedy film but it is one of the most significant to come out of Africa. It illustrates a modern conundrum of having to choose between modernization, and hence westernization, and retaining its own cultural identity.
The Nightingale's Prayer (Egypt, 1959) a damning analysis of gender inequality in Arabic society, was one of the most salient films to come out of Egypt. The film was directed by Henry Bakarat and based on the novel by Taha Hussein.
One of the best things about the intriguing genre of African comedy movies is their accessibility. Abundantly available for streaming over the Internet, hopefully someone will one day identify the comedy in Nollywood's "Four Forty." For a cinema buff looking for something out of the ordinary, this is a fantastic option and would make a great category for trivial pursuit-type questions.
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