THE ROLE OF FILMMAKERS IN NATION BUILDING, HISTORY AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF IMASUEN'S INVASION 1897

Resumen

The cultural norms, values and practices of the Nigerian society have continued to experience constant neglect. This could be due to insufficient historical documentation, and cultural preservation mechanisms. Most filmmakers in Nigeria have not properly utilized their films to portray historical and cultural practices as well as the importance of its preservation and documentation. Nevertheless, this study explores the role of filmmakers in nation building, preservation of history and cultural practices so as to create a better society. Consequently, the Nollywood film, Invasion 1897, was identified and selected purposively for critical evaluation. To do justice to the case studies, the researchers adopted the content analysis design approach of the qualitative research method and utilized the Auteur theory of filmmaking. The findings of the study show that there could be a change in culture, but the ability of the filmmaker to document this change would prevent it from going into extinction. The researchers further recommend that in the preservation of history and culture, filmmakers should pay attention to important details and make necessary research required concerning the history or culture they want to retell and preserve, this would go a long way in building a better historical archives and cultural preservation mechanism that would impact the future generation positively.