According to the survey, Bollywood (India) produced 1,091 feature-length films in 2006 compared to 872 productions (in video format) from Nigeria’s film industry, which is commonly referred to as Nollywood.
In contrast, the US produced 485 major films.
The three heavyweights (India, Nigeria and US) are followed by eight countries that produced more than 100 films -- Japan (417), China (330), France (203), Germany (174), Spain (150), Italy (116), South Korea (110) and the United Kingdom (104).
These and other findings were collected through a new international survey launched by the UIS in 2007 with financing from the Government of Québec in Canada.
“Film and video production are shining examples of how cultural industries – as vehicles of identity, values and meanings – can open the door to dialogue and understanding between peoples, but also to economic growth and development. This conviction underpins the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity,” said Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO.
“And this new data on film and video production provides yet more proof of the need to rethink the place of culture on the international political agenda,” the UNESCO boss said. Overall, the survey yielded data from 99 countries and response rates were limit ed especially among African countries where there is a general lack of statistical information on cultural issues.
Despite its limited coverage, the survey provides a unique perspective on how different countries and regions are transforming traditional approaches to the art and industry of film making especially in video and digital formats.
In particular, the explosive growth of Nollywood attracts considerable attention, especially in developing countries looking for alternatives to the US or European models of film production and distribution, which require considerable investment.
To begin with, Nigerian film makers rely on video instead of film to reduce production costs. And as the survey pointed out, Nigeria has virtually no formal cinemas. About 99% of screenings occur in informal settings, such as “home theatre”.
The UIS survey revealed another key element of the Nigerian success story -- multilingualism.
About 56% of Nollywood films are produced in Nigeria’s local languages, namely Yoruba (31%), Hausa (24%) and Igbo (1%).
English remains a prominent language, accounting for 44%, which may contribute to Nigeria’s success in exporting its films.
The survey also revealed considerable linguistic diversity in film production in Spain and Canada.
In Spain, almost 69% of films were produced in Spanish, 12% in Catalan, about 9% in English, 4% in Basque, almost 3% in French and 4% in other languages.
In Canada, 67% of films were produced in English and 31% in French in 2006.
Despite these results, English remains the dominant language in film making globally. In total, 36% of films produced in 2006 were shot in English, according to the survey. US films continue to dominate admissions globally. Although the survey is not ex haustive, a clear trend emerged when considering the provenance of the top 10 films viewed in diverse countries.
All of the top 10 films seen in Australia, Bulgaria Canada, Costa Rica, Namibia, Romania, and Slovenia were made in the US, according to the survey. There were, however, some notable exceptions.
Bollywood productions were the obvious favourite in India. In France, seven out of the top 10 films were in French. And in Japan and Morocco, domestic productions accounted for five out of the 10 most widely viewed films.
The survey also addressed additional issues related to the digitalization of films, the types of cinemas available in selected countries and information concerning co-productions and distribution networks.
Paris - 05/05/2009
Pana
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|