Remembering the Past: A Conversation with Afolabi Adesanya as Film Exhibitor

Abstract

Abstract:Afolabi Adesanya is known as a Nigerian filmmaker and a policy maker, but not as an exhibitor. His experiences at the first film exhibition company in Nigeria, the West African Pictures Company Limited (WAPCo Ltd.), have never been documented. Established in the 1930s by Syrian Lebanese brothers, the company’s ownership changed in the 1970s with the Indigenization Decree. Little is known of the early history of the company or its contributions to cinemagoing and film consumption in Nigeria; hence, Adesanya’s account of the period while he was at the helm of WAPCo Ltd. (2001–2005) is invaluable. In this interview conducted at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, the first purpose-built multiplex facility in Nigeria, Adesanya reflects on the challenges of directing a cinema company that was bought by a real estate firm solely interested in turning a profit. It brings to the fore one of the reasons for the decline in cinemagoing in the 1980s and 1990s, which is the dearth of trained cinema business personnel and infrastructure.