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.’