Nollywood in Cameroon: Transnationalisation and Reception of a Dynamic Cinematic Culture

The Nigerian film industry (Nollywood) has phenomenally exploded to the extent of affecting audiences and social institutions in various African countries. In Cameroon particularly, various indications suggest that the industry is positively received, despite the persistence of perceptible anti-Nigerian and nationalist feelings among sections of the country’s audiences and communities of cinema ideologues. Using empirical understandings, observations and secondary sources, this paper seeks to explore how the Nollywood phenomenon is manifested and received in the Cameroonian market. It precisely examines the various indexes of Nollywood presence in the country which can be seen in (i) the place Nollywood films have in television broadcast in the country, (ii) the extent to which Nollywood films affect local cinema production in Cameroon and (iii) Cameroonian audiences’ attitudes towards Nollywood films and actors.