Why Nollywood has failed to capture political issues, 'herdsmen' attacks

Nollywood actor, Ramsey Nouah, has revealed why Nigerian filmmakers fail to capture herdsmen attacks and political issues in their films.

While fielding questions on a Channels Television’s programme, Rubbin Minds, on Sunday, Ramsey said Nollywood lacks structure, depth and is largely driven by the demands of the ‘market’.

“The industry had more depth in the past than it has today. Now, everyone is more interested in the outlook (eye candy) than the performance and we are not talking about political issues or the herdsmen.

“Why is the story all about Bentley cars? Everyone wants to shoot about posh things, cars and not filming issues about herdsmen attack, killings, villagers and the political issues happening in the country. It is not the actors or filmmakers fault, it is what the market is demanding and everyone is thinking about the quick way to wealth so they jump into it,” he noted.

According to him, actors are more interested in portraying ‘posh’ things, appearing on red carpets with perfect pictures rather than concentrating on pressing issues in the country.

Ramsey said, “There is a lot of dynamics going on in the industry tending towards not finding bearing and lack of structure.Back in the days, most filmmakers and my contemporaries were passionate about arts and gave it all today it is more like on the surface, people are more conscious about their looks rather than acts.”

In 2015, it was announced that a sequel to the 1992 classic Nollywood movie, “Living in Bondage” was in the works.

The sequel, which will also mark the veteran actor’s official directorial debut will also retain certain key actors and elements of the 1992 cult drama thriller of the same name.

The original movie told the story of a man, Andy, who sacrifices the person he loves the most (his wife, Merit) for wealth. After her death, her ghost returns to hunt him.

Explaining why he is taking on such an ambitious project, Ramsey said, “We felt we had over saturated our stories and we thought about Living in Bondage because it is one of the best films. So, Charles Okpaleke, Steve Dukas and I sat down and worked on the story. We will bring in some of the original actors and we have been on it for two years. We will shoot in Owerri, Abuja and South Africa but principal cinematography will begin in September,” he said.