Beyond the fanfare, Nigeria Cinema Day revealed an untapped potential for cinema culture in Nigeria.
By Joseph Jonathan
September 2nd, 2023 marked the inaugural Nigeria Cinema Day, an initiative instituted by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) to attract diverse audiences into cinemas by offering them movie tickets at a discounted rate of ₦1,000.
Expecting to build on the success of last year’s event, the 2024 Nigeria Cinema Day held on Saturday, September 21st in cinemas across the country. While the day certainly brought more people to cinemas, it also revealed some deep-seated issues within the Nigerian film industry, particularly the continued preference for Hollywood titles over Nollywood’s among cinema-goers and the missed marketing opportunities that could have driven even greater turnout. Interestingly, some of these issues have persisted since the first edition of Cinema Day.
The major purpose of the Nigeria Cinema Day according to CEAN’s National Chairman, Ope Ajayi, is to address the increasing cost of cinema tickets and to commemorate and promote the Nigerian film industry.
However, despite these lofty goals, the turnouts across cinema venues told a familiar story — Hollywood blockbusters still dominate. At Genesis Deluxe Cinemas Abuja, where I observed the day alongside some friends, there was a lot of demand for Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) as against When Love Strikes (2024), which was the only Nigerian title available to watch.
This trend, though not surprising, is telling. Even on a day that was meant to celebrate Nigerian films, audiences continued to gravitate toward Hollywood’s, underscoring a long-standing issue within the local film industry.
Nollywood films, despite their success on streaming platforms, struggle to command the same level of attention in cinemas. It is not that Nigerian audiences do not love Nollywood films but Hollywood’s superior budgets, marketing power, and production values often make it difficult for Nollywood films to compete on an equal footing.
Moreover, audience preferences and biases continue to play a role. There is a certain level of “trust” that audiences have in Hollywood titles; trust in the star cast, the production company (Marvel, DC, 20th Century Fox, Disney, etc.), trust in the marketing of the film. Hence, the preconceived notion that Hollywood is worth the ticket price compared to Nollywood titles usually brings skepticism.
In the weekend preceding Nigerian Cinema Day, data from the Nigerian Box Office revealed that only two Nollywood films made it to the top 6 films in cinemas.
The two Nollywood films, American Japa and When Love Strikes, grossed ₦8,141,150 and ₦5,659,125 respectively that weekend. In contrast, the top-grossing film that weekend was Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned ₦16,112,733, bringing its cumulative total to ₦671.4 million (Interestingly, no 2024 Nollywood title has achieved this milestone yet).
One factor that may have contributed to this imbalance is the underwhelming marketing efforts, particularly on social media, in the lead-up to Nigeria Cinema Day. Despite the potential of the event, neither CEAN, Nollywood production houses nor cinemas took full advantage of their online platforms to build excitement.
Across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, where Nigerian audiences are highly active, there was a noticeable absence of buzz leading up to the event. For instance, a look through CEAN’s Instagram page shows that there were just two promotional posts for the Nigeria Cinema Day on September 14th and 17th. Similarly, there were just two posts on the Instagram pages of both Silverbird Cinemas and Genesis Cinemas.
This worrisome trend has clearly carried on from the inaugural edition of the event where CEAN made a surprise announcement on August 29th ahead of D-Day (September 2nd). By failing to utilise social media, an opportunity was missed to drum up excitement for local films.
In today’s digital age, events like Nigeria Cinema Day thrive on visibility generated by hashtags, and viral videos on social media — especially among younger audiences. Sadly, cinemas and Nollywood production houses missed a crucial chance to galvanize fans and promote their films as a must-see on this special day.
In comparison, foreign film industries, specifically Hollywood, excel at using social media to generate anticipation for their films. With them, there is no shortage of teaser videos, engaging trailers, and behind-the-scenes content—all of which create conversations that draw audiences in. Nollywood, on the other hand, lags in this area, and Nigeria Cinema Day made this gap more apparent.
The apparent lackadaisical promotion of Nigeria Cinema Day on social media points to a larger issue within Nollywood: the disconnect between production and marketing. Despite visible progress in the industry, Nollywood filmmakers continue to face challenges in both perfecting the art of storytelling and effectively marketing their films.
Many Nollywood films, despite their quality, fail to reach their potential audiences due to poor marketing. The absence of aggressive social media campaigns for Nigeria Cinema Day contributed in no small amount to the lower turnout for Nollywood films, as potential viewers remained unaware of the event or the films on offer.
In a report by the Nigerian Box Office, Nigeria Cinema Day saw 16,140 tickets sold, but this represents a 25% decrease compared to last year’s edition, which recorded 21,556 tickets sold.
Beyond the fanfare, Nigeria Cinema Day revealed an untapped potential for cinema culture in Nigeria. The affordability of the day’s ticket prices opened the door for many Nigerians who might not usually attend cinemas due to the cost.
However, for the democratisation of cinema culture to become a permanent feature, more needs to be done to sustain it. Lowering ticket prices for special events is a start, but consistent engagement through promotions, discounts, and loyalty programs could help cultivate a broader, more diverse audience for cinemas.
Events like Nigeria Cinema Day should be used as a springboard to elevate Nollywood films and create an emotional connection with audiences. Moreover, Nollywood needs to be at the forefront of these efforts, promoting its own films in order to ensure that the local industry benefits from increased cinema attendance.
Joseph Jonathan is a historian who seeks to understand how film shapes our cultural identity as a people. He believes that history is more about the future than the past. When he’s not writing about film, you can catch him listening to music or discussing politics. He tweets @JosieJp3.