This is Nollywood

The cinema of Nigeria is the 2nd largest film industry in the world in terms of output, behind Bollywood and bigger than Hollywood, whilst the 3rd largest in terms of earnings. The equipment used by Nigerian filmmakers is very low budget but it is not about the quality but the often unusual content. About five years ago, I used to watch the Nollywood channel occasionally and honestly that started off because I found the films quite amusing. Though I didn't really know what was going on, poor sound quality often didn't help that, I clearly remember some truly odd segments in these films. Examples include, a man walking through the fields throwing plastic forks around, people walking into wardrobes and vanishing and a whole host of spirit and ghost based scenes. The films are often created in the space of a week with actors cast on the day, yet remain very popular with audiences due to the familiar plot subjects. South African photographer, Pieter Hugo has captured the unique and unsettling side of the Nigerian film industry 'by asking a team of actors and assistants to recreate Nollywood myths and symbols as if they were on movie sets', as found on his website. This collection of images is somewhat a break from the heavily emotional imagery he usually captures, such as victims and the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. That being said, it is far from lighthearted.