Nollywood is going to be associated with several new genres with filmmakers like CJ Obasi.
Nollywood has been stuck on the same movie genre for too long. However, there is a set of new generation filmmakers, including CJ Obasi, who are going to create movies that will take film-making in Nollywood beyond the typical categories.
He is pushing himself to explore undiscovered movie genres in Nollywood. Reading novels by Stephen King, armed him with this style of storytelling. By taking horror stories from a bucket full of African horror stories, C.J. Obasi wants to create an entirely new brand.
C.J. Obasi is determined to bring these stories into the mainstream and to the global platform. He started out as a filmmaker in 2010, but failed most of the time, so he quit.
However, in 2014, he got a headstart with a zero-budget movie “Ojuju” – a frightful horror-thriller that became an instant hit.
For his innovative work on “Ojuju”, C.J. Obasi won the award for Best Nigerian Film at the 2014 Africa International Film Festival, as well as the award of the Trailblazer of the Year in March 2015, at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).
“Ojuju” screened at more than 20 festivals around the world. Other movies he made later include “O-Town” in 2015 and “Hello, Rain” in 2018. The latter premiered at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany, the oldest short film festival in the world.
“Ojuju” was an adaptation of the 2011 short story “Hello, Moto”, by Nigerian-American sci-fi author, Nnedi Okorafor.
