In Nigeria, many myths and folktales involve the magic of juju, which is often used to account for certain mystifying, seemingly unexplainable phenomena. «Juju Stories» is a three-part film exploring juju rooted in Nigerian folklore and urban legend. The individual stories – by C.J. Obasi, Abba Makama, and Michael Omonua – tackle ancient supernatural belief systems and superstitions through a surreal and contemporary lens.
Juju Stories C.J. «Fiery» Obasi/Michael Omonua/Abba T. Makama / Nigeria/France 2021 / 84' / colour / English
A three-part anthology film exploring juju (magical) stories rooted in Nigerian folklore and urban legend, written and directed by the Nigerian New Wave collective known as Surreal16. «Juju Stories» tackles juju in contemporary Lagos through three stories. In «Love Potion» by Michael Omonua, an unmarried woman agrees to use juju to find herself an ideal mate. In «Yam» by Abba Makama, consequences arise when a street urchin picks up seemingly random money from the roadside. In «Suffer the Witch» by C.J. Obasi, love and friendship turns into obsession, when a young college student attracts her crush's interest.
Although there is some controversy concerning the exact year Nigerian cinema was born, there isn’t a lot of debate about the year of its first major commercial success. The year was 1992, and the film was «Living in Bondage». The film’s themes – love, avarice, malevolent spirituality, Christian redemption – were all part of the Nigerian lexicon and would come to define much of what was produced in that decade. They remain familiar today: The media still report on young people dabbling in the diabolic for wealth; things pertaining to the spiritual still command fear and worship.
But if both fear and worship were the principal dictators of how Nigerian cinema pursued stories about spirituality, a useful word for today’s approach is irreverence, which, nevertheless, commingles with an ever-present engagement. Younger filmmakers may query the mystical beliefs of their cinematic forebears and their own parents, but they are not quite ready to dismiss or ignore their cultural pervasiveness. Whatever they might think of spirituality, they agree it is part of their inheritance.
Michael Omonua’s «Rehearsal» offers an irreverent look at that inheritance. The film follows a group of young people practising reactions to a faux spirit-filled pastor. It isn’t the type of story mainstream filmmakers of the 1990s would have told. Its methods are just as different. There is the naturalistic acting, a departure from the melodrama typical of mainstream Nollywood. There is the oblique criticism of a religion that, offscreen, commands ardent discipleship in a poor country, even as its leaders have erected massive edifices the unbelieving observer might call capitalist cathedrals.
«Rehearsal» is among the shorts by the Surreal 16, a filmmaking trio whose disavowal of how-it-is-and-was-done has made them the face of non-mainstream Nigerian cinema success. The group’s three-part «Juju Stories» addresses some of the most common superstitions of their 1990s childhood. All three stories tell of young Nigerians dealing with the unpredictable consequences of over-familiarizing themselves with the mystical.
Other filmmakers with projects outside the mainstream include Femi Johnson and Ayo Lawson, the duo behind «Nightmare on Broadstreet», in which a group of friends is traumatized – to death – at a popular outdoor venue on Lagos Island.
While that film wears its western influence in its title, others are more subtle in that respect. Sonia Irabor and Lakin Ogunbanwo, who have both earned degrees in the west, make films in the liminal spaces between cinema and art projects. Walé Oyéjidé, in turn, claims both Nigerian and US culture as formative influences.
For these filmmakers, some of whom have also made features, short films present an opportunity to try outré ideas away from a mainstream superstructure that may not be welcoming. This is arguably evidence of an ambition different from that of their 1990s forebears as well as a sign of a bravery. It takes a level of audacity – and maybe ignorance – to work outside a well-known space like Nollywood.
That bravery provides its own benefits. For example, Olive Nwosu’s «Egúngún (Masquerade)» tells a quasi-queer tale and may never find wide release in Nigeria for that reason. Knowing that beforehand gives a level of freedom to the filmmaker. Like for Nwosu, who doesn’t live in Nigeria, home is something to break away from for many young filmmakers. Today, some consider Nollywood a genre and insist that they do not make films in that mould. While the cinema of the 1990s catered to a local audience, today’s filmmakers have at least one eye on the west. While stories from the past were often set in villages, many young directors are concerned with their cities.
One final difference involves the pipeline for newcomers. Informal apprenticeships and theatre departments once fed Nigerian cinema; today, foreign film schools have become a major source of behind-the-camera talent and training. And when foreign tutelage isn't accessible, watching and imbibing doctrines from western films will do.
And yet, the commercial and cultural dominance of 1990s Nigerian cinema has left a lingering aesthetic mark. In Immaculata Abba’s documentary «You Matter to Me», the old Nollywood aesthetic shows up in the film’s texture and its setting in a village in Eastern Nigeria. The short also discusses family, one of the main concerns of traditional Nollywood.
Eastern Nigeria is also the setting for Dika Ofoma’s «A Quiet Monday». It is the one short film in the selection to address a contentious political issue that is still making headlines, even if the problem’s origin is rooted in the 1960s. In the film, a young tailor promises to deliver on a Monday but is intercepted on her way to a client by two young men, both members of an armed group agitating for the release of their imprisoned leader. Violence ensues. Although the central characters in «A Quiet Monday» are fictional, the narrative’s political atmosphere is all too real for Eastern Nigeria’s residents. Ofoma’s tale relates what tragedies are possible when supposedly remote political issues turn up in intimate settings.
Juju Stories
«Juju Stories» is a three-part film exploring juju rooted in Nigerian folklore and urban legend. Juju means an object that has been deliberately infused with magical power or the magical power itself. It also refers to the belief system involving the use of juju. It is neither good nor bad by itself but can be used for constructive purposes as well as for nefarious deeds.
The three individual stories by C.J. Obasi, Abba Makama, and Michael Omonua – who together form the Nigerian New Wave collective Surreal 16 – all tackle juju in contemporary Lagos through their own approach.
In Michael Omonua’s «Love Potion», an unmarried woman agrees to use juju to find herself an ideal mate. Love potions are popular in Nigeria, and some people will go to extreme lengths in their use of spells and potions to get the person they wish to marry. The story is crafted around this idea and explores what it means to desire someone versus actually being with them.
In «Yam» by Abba Makama, consequences arise when a street urchin picks up seemingly random money from the roadside. The story is based off the popular Nigerian superstition that someone who picks up money that doesn’t belong to them will magically transform into a yam. The short film draws on this idea in a horror comedy with elements of magical realism.
In «Suffer the Witch» by C.J. Obasi, love and friendship turn into obsession when a young college student attracts her crush’s interest. The film depicts witches as everyday people who walk amongst us, of course with supernatural abilities, whether for good or for bad.
In Nigeria, many myths and folktales involve juju, which is often used to account for certain mystifying, seemingly unexplainable phenomena. The tales in «Juju Stories» tackle these ancient supernatural belief systems and superstitions through a surreal and contemporary lens.
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur is Switzerland’s major short film festival. For six days every November, we transform the city into a dynamic short film hub.
Kurzfilmtage offers discoveries for everyone: our thoughtfully compiled thematic programmes address current events or topics that our curators are passionate about. The competition programmes showcase the latest filmmaking from around the globe, while installations, performances, and other specials highlight the diversity of audiovisual forms. And a programme of special events including concerts, readings, and more enhance the festival experience.
A short film is not just a shorter film. Shorts are a distinct art form, which we showcase at our annual festival.
Short films come in all shapes and genres, and how long – or short – they are, varies quite a bit. Simpler production processes allow filmmakers to capture the zeitgeist and quickly respond to trends. Shorts can be entertaining or surprising, they can analyse society, take a political stance, or offer glimpses of worlds unknown to us.
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