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Omoni Oboli Spits Fire On Nollywood Movie Critics, Reveals Why Quality Not Improving
July 22, 2017 – Omoni Oboli Fires Back At Nollywood Movie Critics, Says Filmmaker Not Improving Because Of Limited Budget
See excerpts of Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli’s recent chat with Punch NG on her family, career and other issues.
Have you resolved Okafor’s Law copyright infringement case?
‘We’re still in court. So we’ll leave that for now.’
You once took on Chude Jideonwo for bad analysis of your movie, why did you take the criticism so personal?
‘Criticism is always good and necessary. No one is perfect, so I don’t expect my movies to be without imperfections. Nollywood is a growing industry. We have come a long way, and I’m so thankful to be a part of this homegrown sector which richly blesses our nation with another stream of income.
‘When we criticise, it must be communicated with a clear view of where we’re coming from, where we are and where we’re going. Any critic should have the clear understanding that we are limited in budget and logistics to achieve the seemingly impossible task of competing with Hollywood movies at the cinemas.
‘So, I don’t shy away from criticisms like, ‘the storyline is not well put together,’ ‘the sound was not clear in certain areas,’ ‘the acting by so and so was not up to par,’ ‘the directing lacked such and such.’ What I don’t like is when a blanket statement is made like, ‘the movie was bad,’ without any follow up on how and in what way it is considered bad so I can learn from it.
‘Can I stop such criticisms from ever occurring? Apparently not. But I would like to see more people begin to go beyond any personal views, to see that the big picture is the projection of Nigeria to the world in such great light that other nations will want to know what we are doing.
‘It would increase our ability to export our movies to a more global audience that’s looking for something new outside of the Hollywood defined view of what makes for good entertainment.
‘Saying a movie is just plain bad without any follow-up as to how and why, would mean that the person has the monopoly on what constitutes good entertainment above all other Nigerians who are paying good money and enjoying that same product over and over again.’
Airat A
July 23, 2017 at 9:28 AM
To Omoli and Others and from a place of love and genuine interest in Nigerian films:
Truth be told, I did not like ‘Fifty’ by Mo Abudu. For some of us who are enlightened and exposed, it did not really reflect our issues and narratives: it was the combination of Tyler Perry and ‘Soul Food’. However, the Wedding Party-undoubtedly, in line with ‘My Fat Greek Wedding’-was a beautiful rendition of one of our cultural idiosyncrasies and I cannot wait to watch Part 2.
What we are saying is that so much money is being made via these films and if we are to consider the intelligence and the level of exposure most Nigerians have, it is fair to produce films with good and culturally sensitive story lines, good directing(some acting could be improved)and good production.
If we are raking in millions from films, we do not want to hear about budget excuses. Take the time to go through standard films and strife for improvement, especially now that the audience is wider and well travelled.
Remember,as film producers, you guys always have a pretty good idea as to why your films are labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad’. You might want to create–for every film– a check list of standards to meet and endeavour to meet 75% of them.Right now you are performing fairly,but there is room for improvement. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
Coming from a place of love.
iron bar
July 23, 2017 at 1:32 PM
omoni ,you are a great actor.no one disputes that..when nollywood took off right after andy okonkwo sent it to a spot light,movies were of good quality.edochie,sam loco,olu jacobs,hilda dokubo,askia name them.movies do not come out after 24hrs.it takes a while and that enhances good quality and less critics .now,they dabble into unneccsary ventures,husband snatching,fake life style,bashing each other on the internet and flaunts the picture of their cats and dogs sleeping on their couches.do they even help each other?how many died on sick beds and cannot donate a dime to save those lives.one actor spoke on this issue .but can announce a new G wagon or rolls royce they bought and their expensive trip in dubai.displaying uncladness and investing in brazillian butt implant to sedice big shots is not what we lift our society,it kills the psyche of our growing kids as they copy what they see.do they promote our culture or patronise our busineses.govt sunk in millions and we deserve to yab u guys.are u even aware that they couldnt win any film awards weeks ago trailing senegalese and south africans .pls u guys need to sit up and forget those expired excuses.