Puzzle No. 79: Chain

In 1992 the Nigerian businessman Kenneth Nnebue financed and produced Living in Bondage, a direct-to-video drama-thriller directed by Chris Obi Rapu and co-written with Okechukwu Ogunjiofor. Shot cheaply on video in the Igbo language and sold on VHS cassettes straight to consumers, the film became the first Nigerian home video to achieve blockbuster commercial success, telling the story of a man who sacrifices his wife to a satanic cult for wealth and is later haunted into ruin and repentance. Its profitability demonstrated the viability of a low-cost, direct-to-video production model that bypassed expensive theatrical and broadcast infrastructure, triggering an explosion of locally produced films. This boom grew into Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry that became one of the most prolific in the world by output and a major force in pan-African and diaspora popular culture. While some historians note that earlier video films such as Soso Meji (1988) preceded it, Living in Bondage is widely regarded as the catalyst that launched modern Nollywood, and Nnebue is often called its founding father.

Read the full story · See the world in 1992 CE

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage

Before Birth of Nollywood with Living in Bondage