“We must remain authentic telling our Nigerian stories” – Mo Abudu

• Abudu addressed the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) at a two-day conference.

• The film producer and director emphasized the importance of preserving the authenticity of African stories in Nigerian storytelling to ensure global reach.

The founder of the EbonyLife group, Dr. Mo Abudu, has encouraged Nigerian filmmakers and storytellers to maintain authenticity in their narratives while representing Nigerian culture.

Abudu shared this perspective during her keynote address at a two-day conference organized by the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).

As a film producer and director, she emphasized the necessity for Nigerian storytellers to preserve the authenticity of African narratives while aspiring for global reach.

“The first thing is to understand that there is a difference between a local audience and a global audience and that is nothing wrong. Once you define where your marketplace is, you hold it on and work in that space, but if you decide that you want to work in the global space, there is a guideline I would like to suggest for you to thrive. One of them is that we are authentic to the story that we are telling and I find that as Nigeria we are quite authentic but we try to move into spaces that are not ours. We are trying to be who we are not and that may be distracting from who we are, people understand this is real and this isn’t. So, I think it is very important that we tell our stories as Africans and Nigerians that we remain authentic to those stories we are telling.”

Additionally, Abudu highlighted the importance of recognizing universal themes that can resonate with a global audience, suggesting that filmmakers and storytellers incorporate these elements into their narratives.

“Another point is understanding that there are universal themes that should be part of the stories that we are telling. Things like love, ambition, resilience, justice, who is the cool guy, who is the bad guy, all of these things are part and parcel of what will get us to that global stage,” she said.

The 60-year-old also underscored the significance of investing in high-quality production through collaborative efforts.

She said, “Most important is investing in high-quality productions. It is important that we understand that there is an international standard and with lots of our filmmakers having restricted budgets, which is why we need collaboration. You can’t do everything, you can’t do it all by yourself, imagine we put our resources together to make a global blockbuster, it is going to travel a lot further, and earn a lot more.”