Representing children and childhood in Yoruba Nollywood

This article offers the first in depth consideration of representations of children in West African ‘Nollywood’ cinema. Through textual analyses of a subset of video films that feature children, the article considers the extent to which Nollywood offers representation of local youth that can stand in opposition of the global stereotype of the helpless African child. Ultimately, it argues that Nollywood, by choosing to embrace only the more conservative elements of Yoruba cultural traditional, fails to offer well-developed depictions of African children and childhood.