The Roots And The Reign: Meet The Titans Who Birthed Nollywood

From Hubert Ogunde’s travelling theatre to NTA’s Village Headmaster and the daring celluloid era, how a generation of brave storytellers built an industry before the term Nollywood existed, writes SAMUEL ABULUDE
The Nigerian film industry did not begin with Nollywood. Long before the term was coined, and long before home videos flooded the markets of Idumota and Upper Iweka, there was a film culture. In fact, the story of film in Nigeria predates the country’s independence.
Its earliest roots trace back to the travelling theatre movement of the 1950s and 60s. Men such as Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo and Kola Ogunmola took Yoruba folklore, songs and moral lessons from village to village...