A Nigerian film director, Kingsley Omoefe, has said that movie producers in the country do not need Hollywood to be able to develop the Nigerian movie industry.
Omoefe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos that the world would cherish Nigerian films if the professionals did the right things to take the industry to a higher level.
According to him, the population of Nigeria offers the country’s movie industry a huge market and vast opportunities for success just as the Indian and Chinese movie industries.
“We don’t even need Hollywood; we don’t need the international community for us to be big filmmakers.
“Look at China for example. How many of their films do they have out there? But they are very rich. Look at India, they developed their own.
“Look at our population; we claim to be 160 million people when really are more than 200 million and about 280 million.
“We have the population. Why do we need to go there? I don’t need them, if we do things right, they will be coming to meet us, they will come and look for us.’’
Omoefe has been very active in the Nigerian movie industry in the last 20 years and has directed films such as “Domino’’, “Everyday People’’, “Family Affair’’, and “One Love’’, among others.
Omoefe will compete for the position of President of the Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN) against other veterans such as Lancelot Imasuen, Dickson Iroegbu, and Fred Amata in the Feb. 26 election.
Andy Amenechi is the current president of the guild.