Eddie Ugbomah: Nigerian film pioneer--w/ no films available.
Jan 1, 2023 0:39:58 GMT
forlornjackalope, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this
Post by alebrije on Jan 1, 2023 0:39:58 GMT
Hey all, probably a bit of a lengthy post here.
As someone with a big interest in cinema, particularly cinema that doesn't come from major film countries (North America, Western/South Western Europe, East Asia), I've taken a big interest in archiving film that is on the verge of being lost. A lot of films that are produced outside of film powerhouses generally don't have big ongoing archival efforts, though that has been changing in the last few years.
In the case of Nigeria's film industry, most of the films produced in Nigeria since the 90s are available to watch on YouTube or for purchase anywhere online. This is because Nigeria's modern film industry, or more commonly reffered to as the video era, is produced using affordable equipment and then published somewhere where most people can watch. Usually it's on DVD or just straight up being uploaded to youtube. Before the 90s, the Nigerian film industry was in what people call the Golden Age of Nigerian Cinema. Film back then was usually government-funded and involved expensive equipment and sets, so films produced back then weren't as prolific as what Nigerian cinema currently is.
With this, I'll get right to the point. There are a few people who are credited with making Nigeria's film industry what it is today, who made films back in the Golden Age. Those people are Ola Balogun, Eddie Ugbomah, and Hubert Ogunde. Archival efforts for these pioneers were a bit tricky, since 5 of Balogun's films were forever lost in a fire (though the rest were archived by Arsenal Berlin), and Ogunde's films were archived in a museum dedicated to him. But Eddie Ugbomah's films are nowhere available online, and I'm not aware of any institution archiving his films.
Not a single one. None of his films have ever received a screening in the west (to my knowledge), and even information about screenings of his movies in Nigeria itself are sparse. But if you look up his name, you'll find an endless amount of articles published about him, and about his death. The information that is available about Ugbomah on the internet is truly astounding, with no end to the interviews he's conducted, and academic articles talking about his influence on African cinema. But you cannot watch a single one of his films.
I've checked basically every avenue where you can track down a film, YouTube, Vimeo, Worldcat, private movie trackers, yet not a single one lists any one of his films. The only online snippet that you can currently access is through a Facebook post made by Ugbomah himself.
Some more information that was found through his Facebook are:
He posted a picture of himself burning what seems to be VHS tapes out of frustration of his home country not bothering to create film archives.
This might seem like a dead end, but I firmly believe that his films must be somewhere out there, and I want to find them.
As someone with a big interest in cinema, particularly cinema that doesn't come from major film countries (North America, Western/South Western Europe, East Asia), I've taken a big interest in archiving film that is on the verge of being lost. A lot of films that are produced outside of film powerhouses generally don't have big ongoing archival efforts, though that has been changing in the last few years.
In the case of Nigeria's film industry, most of the films produced in Nigeria since the 90s are available to watch on YouTube or for purchase anywhere online. This is because Nigeria's modern film industry, or more commonly reffered to as the video era, is produced using affordable equipment and then published somewhere where most people can watch. Usually it's on DVD or just straight up being uploaded to youtube. Before the 90s, the Nigerian film industry was in what people call the Golden Age of Nigerian Cinema. Film back then was usually government-funded and involved expensive equipment and sets, so films produced back then weren't as prolific as what Nigerian cinema currently is.
With this, I'll get right to the point. There are a few people who are credited with making Nigeria's film industry what it is today, who made films back in the Golden Age. Those people are Ola Balogun, Eddie Ugbomah, and Hubert Ogunde. Archival efforts for these pioneers were a bit tricky, since 5 of Balogun's films were forever lost in a fire (though the rest were archived by Arsenal Berlin), and Ogunde's films were archived in a museum dedicated to him. But Eddie Ugbomah's films are nowhere available online, and I'm not aware of any institution archiving his films.
Not a single one. None of his films have ever received a screening in the west (to my knowledge), and even information about screenings of his movies in Nigeria itself are sparse. But if you look up his name, you'll find an endless amount of articles published about him, and about his death. The information that is available about Ugbomah on the internet is truly astounding, with no end to the interviews he's conducted, and academic articles talking about his influence on African cinema. But you cannot watch a single one of his films.
I've checked basically every avenue where you can track down a film, YouTube, Vimeo, Worldcat, private movie trackers, yet not a single one lists any one of his films. The only online snippet that you can currently access is through a Facebook post made by Ugbomah himself.
Some more information that was found through his Facebook are:
- "These films have never been released only cinemas and premieres"
- "Yale University and Brown in the US has requested for my film,the mask by prof Wexler and laura"
He posted a picture of himself burning what seems to be VHS tapes out of frustration of his home country not bothering to create film archives.
