Historical approach to women representation in Nigerian Film Making
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Date
2022
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Department of Performing Arts
Abstract
Filmmaking has been utilised in shaping the realities of Nigerian societies with various productions, recording numerous possibilities of human interaction and socialisation within the socio-cultural need for information, entertainment and education. However, the process of representing women in Nigerian filmmaking suggests a subjugated and sexist point of view, rather than the prolific gender, capable of functioning at domestic, national and international level of any given society. This study adopted the descriptive method and historical methods of research. The descriptive allows us to conceptualise issues in this study, while the historical method allows us to reflect on historical happens, motivated within the dynamics of western civilisation as social change. Findings shows that the colonial period was elementary to the successful growth of the Nigerian film industry today, with production output ranging into billions of Naira per year. However, the continuous subjugated imaging of Nigerian female genders, has aided such high output in Nigerian filmmaking, relegating them to becoming gratifying objects for men’s amusement within the patriarchal society. Nigerian women are making efforts to readdress the issue of African women representation within African society, whereby the educated, successful, and domesticated representation of women, are reconsidered especially on the Nigerian Screen. In this present age, Women in Africa and especially Nigeria have acquired various societal status from the Pre-Colonial period across the growing contemporary western world view, making women contenders in the race towards societal enlightenment. Therefore, filmmakers should incorporate female societal icons in both private and public service sectors as creative muse, aiding the proper representation of women in filmmaking. Such historical works becomes documented histories of better and proper representations of Nigerian and African women at domestic, national and international levels of the societies, functioning across the globe.
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Keywords
Historical Approach, Women representation, Nigerian Film Making