Post-imperial affinities and neoliberal convergences: discourses and practices of collaboration between the Nigerian and the Indian film industries

Abstract

Over the past three decades, South-South economic interactions have multiplied. Within this landscape, media industries have come to occupy a relevant position, at the crossroad between soft power and hard economic interests. Numerous studies analysed the South-South circulation of media products, but many aspects of the ongoing interactions remain under-researched. This article contributes to this emerging field of scholarship by analysing the discourses and practices of collaboration that have emerged between the Indian and the Nigerian film industries over the past few years. By analysing the experiences of a few southern Nigerian and Indian film professionals who attempted to develop transnational collaborations, this article investigates the ambiguities of the affinities existing between Nollywood and Bollywood and interrogates the prospects for the creation of effective interactions between them.