Try out this little challenge; visit your favourite Nollywood store, online or offline, check out the movies there.
Okay we’ll save you the trouble, this is what you’ll find; a woman trying to find love in a failing marriage, or another young woman who has just found love after heartbreak. Then the playboy. Ah! and what is a Nollywood movie collection without some comedy?
Every now and then, you’ll find a well executed movie that transcends the average Nollywood love and comedy plot.
In Wakaliwood, its completely different. There’s one thing you’re sure to find –big guns, back-to-back action scenes, CGI helicopters, and kung fu. Lots of kung fu.
Wakali is the name of a ghetto in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and there’s a badass filmmaker there, Quentin Tarantino Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey.
He shoots entire movies in his backyard, literally. All action packed. Its like Kampala meets Hollywood weapons meets Chinese fighting. While most of his movies are viral for the comedy people find in the below-par graphics, there are loads of stuff Nollywood can learn from the Waka stars.
First, the something-to-nothing strategy is amazing.
These guys pull off a 90-minute movie with $200. Complete with salary, costume and props. Imagine what they’d do with a good budget and a great special effects team.
The passion is raw and uncut.
Speaking with Vice News, the director of Ramon productions, Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey talks about the undying zeal of his cast and crew to try out new stuff. Imagine what they’d be willing to do with a great salary.
Lets not forget that many of these guys taught themselves kungfu from movies and are teaching the next generation of actors already.
The creativity has no chill.
See this gun?
It was built from scrap metal and a torchlight. All in a little shop, by this guy:
When they can’t find something they need for a movie, they simply build one. Nollywood needs to stop whining about their problems and start working on how to fix them.
The content is original and to a certain degree, relatable.
Since the movie is shot in the slums, by men who grew up in the slums, its very easy to step into character. Because, experience.
There’s plenty of action.
Of the 10 highest grossing films of all time, seven of them are action films, with the remaining three boasting at least one fight scene. This is not a mistake. People love the adrenaline rush, which is why Wakaliwood is quite popular in Uganda. Watch the trailer of the ‘Ugandan Expendables’ to get the picture
Unfortunately, the highest amount of action Nollywood is willing to give us on the average is Tonto Dikeh slapping her sugar daddy.
We are tired of all the love love abeg.
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