# 2 of 10 good reasons to attend IAMCR 2012 - 'Nollywood' and African Satellite Channels

If you haven't yet registered for IAMCR 2012 in Durban, the local organisers are going to give you ten good reasons to do so. The first was a panel on Freedom of the Media.

The second is a plenary session on Nollywood and African Satellite Channels.

One of the most notable features of the African media landscape is the runaway success of the Nigerian film industry, dubbed Nollywood. In twenty years of its existence, Nollywood has placed Nigerian filmmaking footprints indelibly on the global filmmaking canvas. Nollywood has become centred in film discourse around the globe.

Along with Hollywood and Bollywood, Nollywood is a global phenomenon – a huge, sprawling industry worth more than $250 million per year. But that figure does little to describe its magnitude and impact, which is far larger, and far less measured than any other film movement world wide. Unlike western and eastern movies, Nollywood’s success is only marginally dependent on its theatre screenings and audited circulation figures. The real important distribution has been through videotape and more latterly, DVDs, many pirated and therefore unaccounted for.

In the past few years, a third wave of distribution has become increasingly important – distribution through satellite television channels. Primary among these are the bouquet’s provided by MultiChoice, the television satellite provider in many African countries that has devoted entire channels – Africa Magic – to the screening of Nollywood productions.  In this way, Nollywood has moved beyond Nigeria, into the mainstream of media diets across Africa.  In turn, the injection of legitimate money back in the hands of producers and studios has given the creative side of the industry an enormous boost.

The project, Nollywood and African Satellite Channels, brings together ten scholars who have contributed research studies on the way in which satellite distribution has impacted on African audiences.  The Plenary Panel presented at IAMCR 2012 features five speakers from the project, with studies covering Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.  A truly African study that makes the trip to Durban worthwhile.

The session is convened by Keyan Tomaselli, Matthew Brown and Nyasha Mboti and sponsored by MultiChoice Africa.

Main speakers:

• Christopher Ihidero; Dominica Dipio, Makerere University, Uganda
• Solomon Waliaula, Narok University College, Kenya.
• Hyginus Ekwuazi, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
• M. Africanus Aveh, University of Ghana

For additional information on IAMCR 2012 conference click here.