Nollywood Now in New Cross

Nollywood Now, the UK's first festival of Nigerian film, is taking place at the Moonshot Club in New Cross in October. According to the organisers:

'The Nigerian film industry, popularly known as Nollywood, exploded at the beginning of the 1990s and is now the world’s second largest film industry in the world in terms of number of annual film production. The industry has an estimated turnover of US$250 million, and produces around 2400 films a year. Films are rarely released in cinemas, but are distributed in DVD and VCD format in markets and shops for home viewing. In London, many Nollywood fans rent or buy their films from shops in Deptford, Peckham and Dalston...

Nigerian film is popular with audiences from across Africa. In 2006, 42% of Nollywood films were made in English language, 37% in Yoruba and 18% in Hausa. The industry has taken influence from all around the world (including Bollywood melodrama, Latin American soap operas, low-budget American/British horror and Hong Kong gangster flicks) but transform these influences to address local concerns.'

The festival runs from 6 to 12 October, with the launch event on Wednesday 6 October featuring a panel discussion and screening of the documentary Nollywood Babylon. The venue is the Moonshot Centre, Fordham Park, New Cross, London SE14 6LU

Full details of all events at the Nollywood Now site.