OK Hollywood, Stop it! No I’m serious STOP IT!

Rant alert! (meaning I’m about to vent and some of this might not make sense because my typing will be fuelled by an intense irritation at Hollywood!) I just posted up on another blog and I got inspired to do a post of my own. I was one of those guys who used to look forward to summer blockbusters. Especially the action flicks. Now, I’m a very simple guy to please when it comes to Action Flicks. All I need are some cool VFX, decent acting, a couple of explosions,

Are Africans Clever Enough to Do Sci-Fi?

Should Africans do sci-fi? I always get surprised and angry when I hear or see that question. This is especially so when it comes from Africans ourselves. I’m Nigerian and my studio is based in Abuja, Nigeria so you could say my experience of this debate has mostly within the Nigerian sphere.
The Nigerian movie industry, or Nollywood, is now world famous. Last year saw the release of the sci-fi Nollywood flick Kajola. I personally was looking forward to seeing this film. I had seen the trailer and thought the visual FX seemed below the ‘amazing’ VFX the producers promised, I still wanted to go and see it to show support. But unfortunately due to the fact that the majority of audiences really hated the movie, it was pulled out of the cinemas within 1-2 weeks of release, I didn’t get a chance to see it.

Yes the acting could have been better and VFX by all accounts and based on the clips I saw was not the best,

We Love Chicken

Ok this is a totally random one folks but I felt this very important issue had to be addressed. It’s inspired by a post on Solomonsydelle’s blog (now in our favourites list). I would, on behalf of all EVCL staff, like to say we love chicken!


Yes that’s right we love chicken. We love it grilled, fried, stewed, KFC’d, boiled, in a shawarma, outside of a shawarma and we will not support any unilateral action to ban our lovely chicken from the tables of Nigerian families worldwide!!!
Normal non chicken related service will be resumed soon.....

Planes, Immigration and Nigerians.

Here’s a short animation inspired by the recent negative publicity that Nigeria has been receiving in the international media. Nigeria has been tagged in a Sony Playstation ad, the District 9 movie and even in a little mention in Avatar (cough and you’ll miss that one). Now with the recent unfortunate airplane bombing attempt by a Nigerian national it seems like the international media has got a new target to attack. Nigeria is now shorthand for anything bad in the international media’s eyes. Travelling with a Nigerian passport was bad enough already but now it’s definitely going to be more ‘interesting’...



Nigerians aren’t all saints by any stretch of the imagination. I’m not saying that..
. And god knows the country has big issues to deal with. But Americans aren’t all angels. Neither are the British, Russians, Europeans, Chinese, South Africans or any nation for that matter. Nigerians at home or in Diaspora should stop apologising for being Nigerian whether you still have the Nigerian passport or are now a citizen of another country. If you are honest in what you are doing why do you need to hide?

A lot of Nigerians are setting up groups on online forums and social sites with titles like ‘Nigerians are not Terrorists’ or ‘Nigerians Love Peace’. To me this misses the point and also is slightly scary. Has our national psyche been reduced to a level where we feel we have to apologise for everything a few Nigerians do so we can be let into countries such as the U.S. or U.K. etc? Some Nigerians are even changing their names now.


Those countries and more have proven terrorists than we do. This is our first case. Those countries also have fraudsters, corruption, prostitution, mafias, racism etc. But I don’t see them apologising to us and other countries in that manner. When a U.S., British, E.U., Chinese etc citizen comes to our country, they are treated like kings. In my opinion that is because, for good or bad, those countries have the confidence to fight for their corner in a smart and strong way.


I have nothing against those countries. I lived in the UK for a long time and still love London as a city and will always do. They are just doing what they have to do to further their cause. I believe we have to do the same and play the smart long term game. On a general level, that means a strong confident Nigeria that looks inward to solve its problems before demanding respect and help from others. Media is a powerful tool in achieving that. International media houses are free to report in any manner they wish. And of course it’s not; say CNN’s or other media outfits, responsibility to report wonderful things about Nigeria.


I just feel they should not pretend to be objective and factual when they are not. One only has to watch the recent reporting on the bombing attempt to understand this. First it was an attacking frenzy on everything Nigerian and how we are corrupt etc. When it turned out that the family of the young man actually warned relevant authorities and Western security agencies could be at fault, the media had to alter their direction on how they were reporting the issue.


Yes, travelling will now be hell and humiliating for many, especially our respected elderly. But I’m not apologising for being Nigerian to anybody. That’s just ridiculous.


Adamu Waziri


EVCL

Nigerian Sci-Fi Movie

Here are stills from an idea of a sci-fi/magical movie based in Nigeria that we’ve been toying around with for a while. It is an idea that came way before District 9 before anyone comments. The idea itself is nothing new to be honest. What’s interesting is the angle of how it would work in the West African

Nigeria and District 9

District 9 has definitely got Nigerians talking because of the way we were portrayed in the movie. As a science fiction enthusiast, I was really looking forward to this movie. The short film it was based on called ‘Alive in Jo’burg’ was an interesting one if you were in the visual effects field. Then word started to reach me about its portrayal of Nigerians. Some were even saying we should boycott District 9. As usual, the internet forums were blazing the trail. I thought I’d reserve judgement until I saw the film. Wherever possible, I like to form an opinion based on fact rather than just jump on a popular bandwagon for the sake of it.

After watching the film, here are my thoughts. Of course it wasn’t nice to see us portrayed in a negative light. But that’s stating the obvious. I can see why our Minister for Information decided to step in, demand an apology and ban cinemas from showing it. I didn’t agree with the move but I can see why she did it. I my opinion she picked the wrong target. There are several reasons why I hold this view.