AfricanLoft Exclusive: An Interview With Film Director Oliver Mbamara

Interview by Pamela Stitch, New York. She writes:

I met Oliver Mbamara in a nice cafe in New York City. The meeting was pleasant as we got an opportunity to touch on almost every area of Nollywood - the Nigerian Movie industry. Most would know Oliver as a man of many talents; he is a judge, writer, poet, film director, producer and actor based in the United States. He has done such controversial works as, “This America” and recently did Slave Warrior. Slave warrior is a film which tells the slavery story from the African perspective. After watching Slave warrior, a cultural epic story, I knew that I just had to meet Oliver.

Meet Oliver…

Pammy: Why movies?

Oliver: Actually, I have always been involved in creative arts. It started off with acting as a child in what we used to call “concerts” then it moved to stage and martial arts performances which I incorporated in the movie SLAVE WARRIOR.

Pammy: Acting and directing is quite different from Law?

Oliver: Well, my first love is acting though i do not regret going into Law. It is still a lucrative profession. Actually, I wanted to study theater arts but my family felt it was best that I went into Law. Law gives me a more balanced perspective in my acting, writing, and directing.

Pammy: Why branch into Nollywood?

Oliver: Nollywood is a very popular medium for artists to express themselves. Moreover, it is a medium for us to tell our own side of the story.

Pammy: Some controversy has followed some of the works that you have been in namely , “THIS AMERICA”

Oliver: Yes, THIS AMERICA is quite controversial in some quarters. It tells the story of coming to America from the African Male perspective. We intend to branch out and tell the same story from other perspectives.

Pammy: Why did you create such a movie?

Oliver: Many people back home have the wrong impression of the west. They have the assumption that life here is a bed of roses and that is not the case. Many Africans have had to move from one class to another when they moved out of Africa. In fact, there is a psychological shift that occurs in many Africans as a result. Imagine, being an engineer in Nigeria and then having to clean toilets to survive in America. That is quite disheartening. There are many horror stories that can be told, the problem is that people back home do not know this part of the story. In fact, I know of a man who sold all he had to come to the U.S.A and when he realized that he will have to wait for years to start practicing here, he killed himself. These are our stories and no one is talking about them. We have other stories of students getting high grades in their programs and not being able to work because no one wants to give them their first experience because they are Africans. The main purpose is to ensure that Africans thinking of relocating are psychologically prepared for the move.

Pammy: Do you watch Nollywood movies?

Oliver: Not as much. I respect Nollywood movies but I do not want to get into them so much that they start influencing my perspective as a filmmaker. I want to maintain my voice and perspective.

Pammy: How has the response been to your movies in Nigeria?

Oliver: Well, most of my movies have not been released in Nigeria because of several logistic factors. But we hope to release them soon over there. But they have been highly commended both in Nigeria and over here.

Pammy: Many people feel that Nollywood portrays a lot of negative aspects about our culture - namely abuse of women? What do you think?

Oliver: Well, you have to understand that, producers have to decide between commercialization and principles. Unfortunately, principle does not sell as well as commerciality does. Those negative aspects are still portrayed because that is what mostly sells. I only hope the commercially driven producers and directors in Nollywood would emulate the principle-driven ones in believing that sometimes good image matters more than monetary returns. We export our image through these films.

Pammy: Nollywood movies are not accepted in many international competition. In fact, last year was one of the few times that we got a Nigerian movie accepted in FESPACO (Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou). Why do you think that is?

Oliver: There are several reasons: Failure to project a positive identity, breaking stories into many parts, rush to release which leaves little room for quality editing, and copyright infringement in terms of materials used in the film such as music.

Pammy: Do you think that the change in Nollywood will come from those within the country or outside?

Oliver: Some of it will come from some filmmakers in Nigeria but most of it will come from Nigerian filmmakers in the Diaspora. The number is growing.

Pammy: I had the opportunity to see SLAVE WARRIOR and I was impressed with the cast. Were they all professionals?

Oliver: thank you!! yes, most of them were professionals.

Pammy: Apart from taking people to Nigeria to shoot, housing etc. What other obstacles and challenges did you face with creating this movie?

Oliver: Of course not having enough money as I needed was a very significant challenge, but also trying to objectively tell such an emotional story without leaving the viewer emotionally offended was a bigger one.

Pammy: What other logistics came about that you did not factor in at the beginning.

Oliver: Interestingly, I anticipated all the logistics that came about, maybe because I knew it would be a challenge and I prepared as well as I could.

Pammy: There are so many ideas that go through the movie one is that of reincarnation? Do you believe in it?Oliver: Yes, I do believe in reincarnation even though it is one of those staunch African beliefs that are being challenged by some western theories. One thing I have to say is that: we have established ourselves and if we do not boost up our quality, we are going to have a lot of others buying into Nollywood, changing it around to suit their needs and as such OUR voice will be lost.

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Pamela Stitch blogs at Pamela World