The Cinémathèque suisse and Nigerian heritage

From 18 to 20 February, the Cinémathèque suisse welcomed an official delegation from Nigeria to Penthaz and Lausanne as part of a partnership project.

This visit marks an important step in the development of international cooperation dedicated to the preservation and transmission of the audiovisual heritage of Nigeria, the world's second largest film-producing country. Discussions focused on sharing expertise in conservation, restoration and training of audiovisual heritage specialists in Africa.

Following their visit to the Penthaz Research and Archiving Centre, the delegation attended a screening of two films by Nigerian filmmaker Ola Balogun, preserved and digitised by the Cinémathèque suisse. Produced in 1988 for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Destination Peace and The Return belong to both Swiss and Nigerian audiovisual heritage. 

In the presence of a superstar

A superstar of Hausa cinema and protagonist of major English-language Nigerian productions such as Izu Ojukwu's Amina (2021), broadcast on Netflix, Ali Nuhu Mohammed led the delegation as director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), the federal agency for the promotion of cinema in Africa's most populous country. At the meeting, the partners announced their first joint project: the restoration of Brendan Shehu's Kulba Na Barna (Blaming the Innocent) (1992), an iconic work of Hausa culture and a historic milestone between analogue films and the emergence of Nigerian digital cinema, Nollywood. This project brings together the Cinémathèque suisse, Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst and the Nigerian Film Corporation, laying the foundations for a long-term collaboration.