From Infrastructures to Treehouses: Circulations in Nollywood Distribution, Locations, and Craft
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Published:April 2025
Alexander Bud, 2025. "From Infrastructures to Treehouses: Circulations in Nollywood Distribution, Locations, and Craft", Contemporary African Screen Worlds, Lindiwe Dovey, Añulika Agina, Michael W. Thomas
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Since 2010 a landscape of circulations and “infrastructures” has dominated Nollywood studies. This chapter puts forward an approach in which the flows are more contingent, less directed and “leaking out” at every stage in a film’s life cycle, during both production and reception as well as distribution. The first part of the chapter looks at location filmmaking in Igboland, exploring the flows through a scene populated by filmmakers, on- and off-duty actors, location managers, owners of the houses where films are shot, and other house owners who incorporate filmic images into their homes. The chapter then explores the recent phenomenon of studio production in Lagos, including fabricators working on film sets (set designers, carpenters, painters), and those in the wider world (such as architects, interior designers, and furniture makers). The conclusion crystalizes the approach in the idea of the “treehouse” as a counterpoint to “infrastructure.”