Isaac Izoya is the founder of the Nollywood Film Festival, Germany, Nollywood Europe Golden Award and CEO Ehizoya Golden Entertainment. He has toured Europe with close to 200 Nigerian entertainers to project the Nigerian film culture. He explains more in this interview with ORJI ONYEKWERE.
Let’s start with the Nollywood Film Festival and the award .Tell us about the movies that would be screened and some of the people that will receive the award.
We thank God that people have submitted so many great movies this year. We are having big problems to select. There’s a big movie we are going to screen this year, Off Shoot by Steve Ayeny and Yoba by Dr Henry Emeka Obidi, A Country called Ghana by Frank which features Ramsey Nouah and Victor Osuagwu among others. We are going to screen them in this two-day festival.
What of the award recipients?
We have a list of them which I can’t remember their names off hand. We have up to 10 people to honour.
You have toured Europe with a lot of actors where they are literally adored. Why have Nigerian actors found it difficult to penetrate Hollywood?
This is a strong one, but it’s quite sad because our music has penetrated everywhere. I think we failed to do what most of our musicians did. I remember those days, how some of them from the beginning don’t mind what it is going to cost them to feature some of these top American musicians in their songs.
Through these black artistes people have come to know Afrobeat and others because people didn’t know those Nigerian stars like: Davido, Wizkid and others before now. However, when they feature some of these established stars, the westerners want to listen to their music because of those established stars. Gradually the table has turned and these American artistes just want to associate with Afrobeat music.
We have not been able to do that in Nollywood scripts and with the best of Nollywood stars to pair with Hollywood stars. Even if you don’t like Nollywood movies, because of these Hollywood stars, you will want to watch the Nollywood movies and then get acceptance into the western world system.
That way we have not been able to do it because of the cost involved and you know the Nigerian style, they always want quick returns. Again, the quality of our movies, even the Hollywood stars for example, will find it difficult to identify with it. We know what it takes to do preparation for production in Hollywood, the money they will use is enough to produce many movies in Nigeria.
The question is difficult to answer because I know Nollywood’ movies are quite popular in America, the streets of New York and other places. Those pirates have made big money out of Nollywood especially in the US. I don’t know why they find it difficult to feature our actors, I don’t know if it has to do with our accent. But all I know is that our movies are highly celebrated in the US across board.
I asked because you are based in Germany and they must have told you few things about Nigerian actors why they can’t feature them in their movies?
Yes. It’s a common question. The irony is that our movies are well accepted in the US, but why those big producers are not featuring our actors is another case.
Can you recollect any incident that has to do with any of the actors you took on tour, how they were received or the embarrassment they faced before the fans?
Yes. A lot. I remember far back in 2003 when we took Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki) and Osita Iheme (Pawpaw) on tour of Europe. In Amsterdam, Holland, in particular; we stopped by in one place; Aki and Pawpaw stepped out of the car and one elderly Ghanaian man was just driving by and sighted them.
He jumped out from his own moving car and forgot to pull the handbrake. With the excitement he rushed towards them and we were all scared the way he rushed and people were shouting, ‘Oga, look your car’, he quickly rushed back to pull the break before he came back to us. He was shouting and said his marriage almost collapsed because he and the wife were not talking to each other.
The only thing that made both of them to reconnect back again was the Aki and Pawpaw movie. He said while watching the movie, both of them forgot they had issues and started talking to each other because of Aki and Pawpaw movie. That soldered their relationship back again. So, when he saw Aki and Pawpaw in Amsterdam, for him; it was dream come true.
I remember in Torino, when we did Aki and Pawpaw show, the hall was full to capacity. When we introduced Aki and Pawpaw and they stepped on stage, the show closed down and the security had to rush them out of stage. That show lasted for only five minutes
I remember Mama G ( Patience Ozokwo). That’s a different story on its own. In Torino, while we were driving by, one girl just sighted Mama G in the car, she kept running and shouting. She didn’t know how to appreciate Mama G, she just pulled out her gold necklace and threw it inside the car to Mama G.
She shipped presents more than five times because she couldn’t use it for excess luggage on the airline while coming back. She had many boxes of gifts because I took them round 18 cities in nine countries across Europe. Name them, when I look back, I always give glory to God for using us to put smiles on people’s face.
I remember sometimes there are some shows I will excuse myself, go to the side and shed tears of joy, it’s a great thing to get our stars to be celebrated because others can’t celebrate our stars for us. All this excitement and meeting with our established stars is not because of my idea but I thank God for everything. You know those days we don’t have the social media, even mobile functioning phones in Nigeria
NCFVB says they are going to place a ban on smoking in movies, violence, criminal act, ritual killing, money rituals and this also extends to music videos as well. As a producer, what kind of movie are you going to produce if you avoid all these things mentioned?
The man with the mantle of leadership Dr Shuaibu Hussein, happens to be one of our ambassadors. They were among the first people that received the Nollywood Golden Award because we identify the real people that matter in the industry. I know him one-on-one and he has been a good friend for years. I know he is well travelled, well-polished and I know he cannot do that.
This is not too polished. They use movieS to send messages. In the Nigerian movie, if you see someone prostituting or a drunk, or a smoker, just look at the end of that story, there is always a place for correction, if you’re doing this, there’s always repercussions.
Just like the Bible said, listen to your father and mother so that your days will be long. You have in the movie two different people, one is not listening and one is listening. At the end of the day, you will see the end result between the obedient child and the disobedient child. If you say you don’t want this or that, what are you going to use to teach this lesson?
I remember those days, people from other African countries across Europe when you meet them; one of the things people know Nigeria for is entertainment. One of the things they will tell you is ‘aahh, I am afraid to go to Nigeria because of evil forest’. You remember those old movies in the beginning of Nollywood’ when the thing was always evil forest. This people believe maybe there is evil forest somewhere before we began to lecture them.
If you go on the social media, most of these young ones will tell you that they are angry with their parents because they didn’t give birth to them in Nigeria. Everybody wants to identify with Nigeria because of entertainment. America run the world with two things, entertainment and weapon, – military power. Hate or like America, you must listen to their music.
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Even in North Korea and other countries that don’t like America but you must still hear American music. Hate or like America, you must still use their weapons. Hate or like Nigeria, you will still see our entertainment videos on their shelves. They will still play our music and movies. I wish we really have good leadership that would have capitalised on this because these people are the real ambassadors of Nigeria. Where they have taken the good name of Nigeria to, our politicians will not come close. If you are trying to ban all those things you are simply telling us to fold up and stop Nollywood.
You read journalism, what prompted you to go into acting, filmmaking and hosting the film festival?
Just one thing, if we don’t do it ourselves nobody will do it for us. I have lived in Europe for so long. I was writing for an African – Korea magazine and because of difficult we release one magazine in one month. You can’t use that to counter the wrong image the western world are dishing out every day about Africa.
When you mention Africa those days they associate blacks with wrong impressions. They call Africa black continent and I have travelled round the world, you see dilapidated buildings and potholes etc in developed countries just like you see in Africa, but you will never see these things in their movies or reported by the Western media, all you will see is glamour.
Go to America today and see people feeding in the dustbin but you will never see that in their movies. There are some places in America you will be so scared to go because the people there are on drugs. When I started seeing the bad image they were painting about Nigeria, I felt we have to do something about this negative impression.
What are some of the effects?
Sometimes you want to travel in the subway, when you enter and sit down, you see everybody changing their seats and giving you space, because of the negative reports about Africa. Even Lagos, some places you never thought that exists in Lagos that’s where they will show and say this is Lagos.
So, I said someone has to change this narrative. I remember a lady fell in love with a Nigerian guy but, the mother refused that she doesn’t have a daughter to be sacrificed. ‘How can you go to Lagos and get married to people that live like monkeys’. The guy was able to convince the lady and they travelled back to Nigeria. When she got to Nigeria, she called the mother who asked her where she was calling from and she told her she was calling from Lagos. She screamed and was like, ‘do you mean they have telephones in Lagos? It was that bad.
I have been using my hard earned money and sometimes people just look at me. I say what kind of calling is this? You gather money and pour it away, people don’t understand. Sometimes I will say I am not going to do it again. You will see people calling you, ‘Mr Izoya, I want to book my holiday next year, I want to know when the next Nollywood Film Festival is taking place to enable me attend. You will feel helpless and start organising it again.
We thank God. The German Ministry of Arts and Culture is doing their best though the funding is not much. For them to identify with us is something we cherish so much. The embassy in Berlin those days and the Consulate in Frankfurt are always there with us morally. They’re always there during all our events.
Really?
What I am doing I wish it’s the Germans that are doing it, they will have enough funds, but you, an African person doing it, you write to different companies that have business in Nigeria but they will not accept. Of course, Nigerians here are different from the Nigerians in the UK. The ones here are PHD, (pull him down). How come the guy is always doing this? I remember one of our shows, a seating Senator from Atlanta Georgia was there Townsley James, and other great personalities We have some great politicians that have attended our events, big names and all that.
People will be jealous of what you’re doing but they don’t know what you are going through, how this thing is landing you in debt year in year out. In spite of all this, you still have Nigerians writing petition against you. You are doing what they cannot do, why must you do it.
There was a year I wanted to bring in some Nollywood’ stars. Guardian interviewed me and I gave them the list of the people we will be inviting that year. Some Nigerians just requested for passports for the same set of people and sent invitations that they were bringing them to Germany.
That’s my problem with Nigerians. You already have an agreement with someone that he was bringing you to Germany, why would you go and submit your passport to another person for the same period of time?
Those people were processing the same visa and I was processing the same passport with the same set of people for the same period of time. They were invited after their visa application, but days before the visa interview, those groups in Cologne, Germany, then sent a letter to the Consulate thanking him for their cooperation and understanding.
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Hate or like Nigeria, you will still see our entertainment videos on their shelves. They will still play our music and movies. I wish we really have good leadership that would have capitalised on this because these people are the real ambassadors of Nigeria.
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