Dakore Egbuson-Akande
Nigerian actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, says Nollywood does not need an Oscar win, or any sort of validation from the Western world.
She made this assertion during a very interactive panel session at #NECLive8, Nigeria’s biggest gathering of entertainment stakeholders.
“We need to understand the power that we have. We need to get validation from ourselves, not from the West. We don’t have to win an Oscar, we have our own awards, let’s invest in them, let’s be more deliberate about how we want to enter the world conversation. We need to value what we have, we need to stop looking down on ourselves,” she was quoted by Thenet.ng.
She added that it was unfair to directly compare Nollywood with Hollywood, considering how far the local industry had come.
People like to compare us to Hollywood, and that’s not even fair,” she said. “Hollywood has been there. What has helped us is technology, sheer passion and ingenuity, and how we adapt to things. That’s what has made Nollywood what it is today. It’s the second-largest film industry in the world. Can you imagine the power in that?”
“There was a time when it wasn’t cool to be an actor or singer or photographer or fashion designer, and to see that change is something beautiful to behold. Back then, people would actually feel sorry for you if you decided to be an actor or singer, and at the time it was a valid sentiment because people were not really making any real money from the Arts. I feel like we’re undergoing a creative renaissance at this time, and it’s all excellence. We’re coming from a time when it was VHS, then we evolved to VCDs, and now we have cinema culture. Even the practice on set, the way we treat artists, has changed. It’s a great time to be a creative in Nigeria, and it’s beautiful to see,” she added.