Filmmakers use documentaries to share first-hand accounts of incidents by involving the key players of the story. It’s a different format of filmmaking that shines the light on real-life experiences without the glamour and finesse of fiction.
From area boys to colourism and tribal marks, here are 4 Nigerian documentaries spotlighting vital issues that you can stream on Netflix.
1. Awon Boyz
Unless you are a visitor to Lagos you must have come across or at least heard about the fierce-looking area boys that populate the city. They are usually seen as criminals, walkabouts and menacing men with no future ambition. But, are area boys born or made? Did they choose their lifestyles or were they forced into it? What dreams, aspirations and hopes, if any, do area boys have? All genuine questions that director Tolulope Itegboje sought to answer in his 38-minute documentary, Awon Boyz.
Executive produced by Steve Babaeko of Zero Degrees Production, Awon Boyz is a 2019 documentary that spotlights eight area boys across three shanties in Lagos. The documentary provides an insight into the lives of these street boys and provides some sort of backstory for them. Awon Boyz started streaming on Netflix in April 2021. For a short look at Awon Boyz, watch its trailer below. To stream Awon Boyz on Netflix, click here.
2. Marked
If you do not have a tribal mark you might be tempted to get one after watching Nadine Ibrahim’s Marked. The 2019 documentary looks at scarification and its cultural relevance to the Nigerian society. Rather than telling the cliched ‘tribal marks are ugly’ story, Marked shows real people, including model Adetutu OJ Alabi, who are proud of and happy with their tribal marks.
Marked was produced by Naila Media and associate produced by Ishaya Bako. the 20-minute documetary began streaming on Netflix in March 2021.
Watch Marked’s trailer below or stream on Netflix when you click here.
3. Skin
2019 seemed to be a year for documentaries, as Skin, the third documentary on our list, was also released then. While discrimination based on race and ethnicity, a.k.a racism, is widely condemned, not many know about colourism and its ills, a knowledge gap Beverly Naya tried to close with Skin. Colourism is discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. It draws its strength from an assumed definition of beauty which people are forced to mold into. Having a first-hand experience of colourism herself, Naya’s Skin featured interviews with people who have been treated differently because of their skin tone and the decisions they have made as a result of this.
Skin is directed by Daniel Etim-Effiong, written and produced by Beverly Naya and features Hilda Dokubo, Bobrisky, Eku Edewor and more. The one-hour sixteen-minute documentary started streaming on Netflix in June 2020.
You can stream Skin on Netflix by clicking here or you can watch the trailer below.
4. Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria
Ever wondered how Nigeria came to be? Who were the major players involved in creating this great conglomerate called Nigeria? You will get the answers to these and other questions you may have in Olasupo Shasore’s 7-episode docuseries titled Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria.
The docuseries is based on two books by Shasore – A Platter of Gold: Making Nigeria and Possessed: A History of Law & Justice in the Crown Colony of Lagos 1861 – 1906.
The episodes in Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria are between 28 to 38 minutes long, meaning you can binge-watch them all at once. Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria is a Quramo Productions’ film produced by Funmbi Ogunbanwo and directed by BB Shasore. It premiered on Netflix in October 2020.
To stream Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria on Netflix, click here. You can get a preview of what to expect when you watch the trailer below.
