Nollywood: The Making of a Film Empire [Paperback]

Emily Witt blends monograph with vivid reportage in her latest offering: a short but sweet study of Nigerian cinema. -Financial Times

How did Nigeria create the second largest movie industry in the world?

Nollywood began in Nigeria in the 1990s and has grown into one of the most recognized cultural centers of the world, producing more movies every year than Hollywood and almost as many as Bollywood. Emily Witt travels to Nigeria to offer a vivid, rollicking tour of the industry today, from the back alleys of the marketplaces of Lagos to the glamour of a red-carpet premiere, from startups trying to digitalize what has been largely an economy based on piracy to the shooting of a historic epic in the northern city of Jos.Amid electricity cuts, fuel scarcity, and countless other obstacles, Nigerians are pursuing the very real possibility that Nollywood dramas could become a global brand, as recognizable as the Bollywood musical, the Hong Kong kung fu flick, or the Hollywood blockbuster. Emily Witt blends monograph with vivid reportage in her latest offering: a short but sweet study of Nigerian cinema. --Financial Times

The strength of Witt's book is her exploration of Nollywood's attempts to formalize its haphazard business model....an insightful and entertaining book about a rapidly evolving industry. --Times Literary Supplement

Witt's book addresses the major shifts in Nollywood: how the change in Nigeria's film distribution model affected both the content and the industry's digital future, among other topics. Witt, who spent five weeks in Nigeria researchingNollywood, seamlessly blends travel writing with cultural and media history for a product that is as informative as it is effortless to read. --VideoAge International

An excellent, engaging introduction to an industry that deserves continued attention. --Africa is a Country

An intriguing introduction to the Nigeril3