Introduction

Since its debut in 1988 with Isola Ogunsola's Aje Ni Iya Mi (My Mother is a Witch), home video film in Nigeria has enjoyed patronage across all social and economic strata nationally and beyond. Its international appeal has been widely acknowledged and well documented by scholars and critics (Okome and Haynes 1996, Larkin 1997, Haynes 1997, Adamu 2004, Jeyifo, 2009). The medium has benefited from modern advancements in technology especially in recording, editing, mass production and screening of people's narratives for consumption by the rest of the world. It is being sustained by its roots in the narrative, performative and oral traditions of the people, while also borrowing from foreign literary and cinematic cultures. Depending on the ethno-cultural background of the producers, Nigerian video films developed from the Yoruba Popular travelling theatre, literary drama in English, the Onitsha Market literary pamphlet tradition, Hausa Wasan kwaikwayo and Hausa written literature (Soyayya books). The television and radio drama series and photo–plays also provide antecedents that continue to energise the industry. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual nation with over 250 indigenous languages, most of which have dialectal variations. However, Nigerian video films are mainly produced in major languages such as Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Tiv, Edo, Ijaw and Ibibio. Many are also produced in English, the inherited colonial language. In terms of classification, the films are in genres ranging from romantic comedies to adventure films, horror films, magical fantasies, thrillers, detective stories and melodrama.