As a baby, Nollywood movies frightened me. My mum would watch Nigerian motion pictures whereas she braided my hair, and I’d typically dread listening to the screechy, unstable audio and references to witches and juju that will hold me up at night time. But whilst I feared these movies, I additionally struggled to look away. My eyes have been particularly glued to the big, melodramatic performances of the ladies actors; these Black girls, young and old, who defied white supremacist and patriarchal notions of womanhood, as they plotted revenge on their dishonest husbands, backstabbing pals and evil mothers-in-law. And within the early 00s, I used to be significantly struck by how lovely and trendy they have been and the way a lot they seemed like the ladies in my life. Their skinny eyebrows, overlined lips, eccentric hairstyles, brief skirts, and excessive heels. They have been magnetic, mischievous and sharp-tongued.
Old Nollywood, which nonetheless has a nostalgic grip on many Nigerians within the diaspora, is the inspiration behind photographer Marc Baptiste and artistic director Angel Oduko’s newest picture collection, OMOGE. Named after an affectionate Yoruba time period for a stupendous and trendy girl, the mission follows a gaggle of Lagos-born, Brooklyn-based pals on an evening out. Styled by Lola Amu and Oyinkan Akin, their outfits and wonder are influenced by the maximalism and flamboyance of Old Nollywood movies. “The cast is made up of myself, friends, acquaintances, and mutuals who fit into the visual world I was building,” Oduko tells Dazed. “There is something exhilarating about being in a group of beautiful, confident women who are immaculately dressed. The night unfolded with true chaos as people slowed down their cars to compliment us.”
Oduko was impressed by Old Nollywood motion pictures like Girls Cot (2006) by Afam Okereke, Blood Sisters (2003) by Tchidi Chikere and End of the Wicked (1999) by Teco Benson. These motion pictures, significantly Girls Cot, have been reintroduced to Gen Z by social media accounts like @nolly.babes and @yungnollywood on Instagram, which not solely protect Nigerian cinema but in addition showcase Nigerian fashion, music and wonder. “I think people love Old Nollywood because of its rawness and authenticity,” Oduko explains. “Those films told more pedestrian stories, and I mean that as a compliment. They were about everyday people, everyday desires, and everyday betrayals, while still managing to be surreal and experimental.”
It was the ladies in these Old Nollywood movies that significantly caught Oduko’s eye, and that is the explanation the picture collection is targeted on how Nigerian femininity is carried out and witnessed in the present day. “My favourite women in Classic Nollywood completely abandon what society would deem as ‘respectable’ femininity, and that abandonment grants them a disruptive power,” she explains. “That is something I wanted to bring into OMOGE. Their defiant stares and self-assured poses – these women know they are being watched, but there is a lack of regard for male opinion, even while being fully aware of its presence.” Like a fly on the wall, we watch this group of pals as they gallivant round Brooklyn on what looks like a sizzling summer season night. All eyes are on them, and whereas some don’t care, others relish it.
“The thing about wielding sensuality as a tool is that it can become a source of both desire and discomfort,” she displays. “The confidence that comes with the armour of hyperfemininity also comes with the objectification of the male gaze, which can feel uncomfortable. I think that contradiction lives inside the images.”
While OMOGE at present exists as a photograph collection, Oduko views it as a constructing block in direction of a brief movie of the identical identify. “I think contemporary Nollywood has made incredible strides, but there has also been some overcorrection. A lot of films now feel very polished, but sometimes that polish comes at the expense of texture,” she explains. “I want that texture in my film; a combination of the grit, flamboyance, and the emotional volatility of Classic Nollywood. This photo series became a way to explore what already lives in my eye with more intention and precision.”
