"You have gone far"
says the jealous eye
"It is not fair"
says the envious mind....
I really do not mind in what box you put me today, I just know that it is not fair that some scholars have access to films produced by people like Ladi Ladebo, Saddik Balewa's Kasarmu Ce, Jab Adu, Wole Soyinka's Kongi's Harvest and the many films produced by Eddy Ugboma.
How can one effectively teach films made in Nigeria without access to some of these films. I know the story behind these producers/filmmakers but I have no idea what non-Western aesthetic values to subject them to.
I am aware of Professor Moyo Okediji's work in Art History and also that of Dr. Mufunanji Magalasi who invoked Steve Chimombo's ULIMBASO to review movies produced in Malawi. Biodun Jeyifo once started on the path of creating African aesthetics in the review of non-Hollywood movies. The question to subject these works to is "what is the creative inspiration and circumstance for the films".
I cannot pretend that a lot of work has not gone into the critical analysis of films and documentaries in Nigeria what I am not sure about is how much critical appreciation is out there and can be termed non-Western criticism?
---Biodun Odutola
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