Nollywood actress Funke Akindele has reacted to comparisons with Hollywood filmmaker Tyler Perry. She recently defended her filmmaking style after an X user compared her storytelling to that of Perry, and fans have been reacting.
Crediting Tyler as one of the people who influenced her journey as a filmmaker, the moviestar stated that there’s nothing wrong with learning from someone she admires.
Funke added that she feels proud to see several upcoming filmmakers saying they learn from her own work nowadays.
Her words, “I’ve never been ashamed of my humble beginnings, and I never will be. Tyler Perry is one of my role models and I learnt a lot from watching his films, especially when it came to storytelling and writing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning from someone you admire. In fact, that’s how many great journeys begin.
Over the years, I broadened my knowledge, attended workshops, sharpened my craft through experience, and found my own voice. And I’m still learning because growth never stops.
Today, many upcoming filmmakers say they’ve learnt from my work, and I’m truly grateful for that. That’s how creativity is passed on. We learn, we grow and we inspire others.
Never be ashamed of where you started. Keep learning. Keep growing.”
Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.
The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.
Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.
Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.
