Nollywood Babylon

Hasta la vista, Hollywood! Welcome to the wild and wacky world of Nollywood, Nigeria’s explosive homegrown movie industry, where Jesus and voodoo vie for screen time. Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, known in Lagos as “Da Governor,” is one of the most influential men in Nollywood, a term coined in the early '90s for the world’s fastest-growing national cinema, surpassed only by its American and Indian counterparts. Undeterred by miniscule budgets, Da Governor is one of a cadre of resourceful filmmakers creating a garish, imaginative, and wildly popular form of B-movie that has frenzied fans begging for more. Among the bustling stalls of Lagos’s Idumato market, films are sold, and budding stars are born. Creating stories that explore the growing battle between traditional mysticism and modern culture, good versus evil, witchcraft and Christianity, Nollywood auteurs have mastered a down-and-dirty, straight-to-video production formula that has become the industry standard in a country plagued by poverty. Nollywood is tapping a national identity where proud Africans are telling their own stories to a public hungry to see their lives on screen. Peppered with outrageously juicy movie clips and buoyed by a rousing score that fuses Afropop and traditional sounds, Nollywood Babylon celebrates the distinctive power of Nigerian cinema as it marvels in the magic of movies.
CAST

Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal - Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal began their collaboration at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal. Their first film, Discordia, screened at festivals and universities around the world. Hailed by The Globe and Mail as "the newest wave in documentary filmmaking," Discordia won several awards. Mallal and Addelman's second feature, Bombay Calling, premiered at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Bombay Calling was also broadcast in more than 150 countries on National Geographic International. In 2007 the two directors launched AM Pictures.

Screenings:

Fri. Jan 16 6:00 p.m. - NOLLY16SE Screening Room, Sundance Resort
Mon. Jan 19 6:15 p.m. - NOLLY194E Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
Thu. Jan 22 10:30 p.m. - NOLLY22BN Broadway Centre Cinemas IV, SLC
Fri. Jan 23 11:30 p.m. - NOLLY233LHoliday Village Cinema III, Park City
Sat. Jan 24 2:30 p.m. - NOLLY24PA Prospector Square Theatre, Park City