Experimental Filmmaking and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Sustainable development is a concept that highlights the need for human capacity building and socioeconomic progress across societies, as well as plans for the satisfaction of those needs in an ongoing manner. The contributive role of the avant-garde film sector to the actualization of sustainable development programmes in Nigeria was, therefore, the issue at stake in this study. A qualitative research design that integrated oral interviews and documentary study as methods of empirical investigations was adopted. Findings show that there is an exponential culture of experimental filmmaking in Nigeria, encouraged by the emergent new technologies of production and distribution, as well as a regulatory environment that recognizes and sustains it. Though bedeviled by myriads of challenges, the usefulness of the sector to the promotion of holistic sustainable developments requires, among others, that the producers, regulators, and the industrial associations work in synergy to better position the alternative film sector for higher socioeconomic and cultural outputs. Subsequently, the study recommends that the value of experimental filmmaking to national development should be more broadly acclaimed and that a more intensive use of new media for improved short film outputs be encouraged. While it would be necessary to empower young entrants to the field through film festivals and film labs, educational establishments and local communities in the country should more broadly engage in short film productions, focusing more on themes that hold relevance to the developmental needs of Nigerians.