Transatlantic connections: reception and production of Nollywood films in Brazil

This essay examines South to South connections between Brazil and Nigeria through a situated reception study and content analysis of two Nollywood films. The audiences are located in Salvador da Bahia and in São Paulo, Brazil, and the essay analyses audience reception of Domitilla: The Story of a Prostitute (1996) and extrapolates themes by examining Black Night in South America (2007). The themes of both films and various spectatorial responses reveal the observation of stark contrasts between rich and poor, capitalist desires, and different patriarchies–echoing those themes in Brazilian telenovelas. This thematic coincidence is a site for exploring cross-cultural similarities and intersections between aspects of Nigerian and Brazilian life. It is also an avenue for a further symbolic exploration of cultural and historical contiguities within the Global South, particularly with regard to religious practices, gender relations, and socio-economic hierarchies. This paper combines audience responses with the close film analysis to reveal correlating narratives about ethnicity, class, gender and urban survival, as well as the moral storylines in both Nigerian films and Brazilian telenovelas.