Filmmaking in Colonial Nigeria

[1] These were soon replaced in the early 20th century with improved motion picture exhibition devices, with the first set of films screened at the Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos from 12 to 22 August 1903.

[3][9] The first film hit in this early period came on 3 August 1904, when the documentary on the visit of if Alake of Abeokuta to England was screenee.

Filmmakers started producing films for local audiences within Nigeria since the 1920s, mostly employing the mobile cinema as a means of exhibition.

By this time, cinema had become popular in Lagos with crowds of young and old people usually waiting at the doors of theatre halls.

The film was shot amongst the Sura and Angas people of the present day Bauchi and Plateau States in Northern Nigeria, and narrates the rivalry between a British District Officer and a tin miner which leads to a war.

[5][6] Also in this era there were several films set in Nigeria, one of the most notable being the 1935's Sanders of the River by Zoltán Korda, featuring Nigerian actor Orlando Martins.

It also produced newsreels and short documentaries, depicting celebrations and colonial achievements to domestic and overseas audiences.

[4] In the 1950s, the state of affairs changed a bit, with more Nigerian contents being exhibited in cinemas,[11] with a purported drive to "Africanize" film production.