Outside Nigeria, Nigerians are known for their perseverance, ingenuity, and hard work. But looking from the inside these talents seem nonexistent or underappreciated. Every now and again, prodigies from different fields surface and go viral on the internet. They are praised for their talent and intelligence, but soon recede from public gaze without much support in cash or kind. Fortunately, that is not the case of The Critics, a group of Nigerian teens that create sci-fi with their smartphones
Meet The Critics: Nigerian teens making sci-fi movies with their smartphones.
Eight in number, The Critics made their first film named “Redemption” in 2016. They are self-taught sci-fi movie makers, who make their films inside a compound in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria. Using a green fabric for chroma key, a smartphone and a tripod made from a broken microphone stand, they created a story about two boys who create an organic bio-fuel.
They make these videos on their smartphone!
Needless to say, sci-fi equipment are expensive and out of their reach. What is impressive is that the boys use everyday items to produce their movies. They remain undaunted by lack of funds, slow internet, and power cuts.
The Critics use a blower that generates air for the actor who flies through the air in the film.
One of The Critics filmmakers, Raymond Yusuf, says: "The system is really slow; it takes time to render. Our five minutes short film called "Chase" took us like almost two days to render and not only the fact that this system is slow, the electricity where we stay here is pretty poor. "
Their work eventually captured the attention of Nollywood movie producer Kemi Adetiba. They've gone viral since she tweeted about them in June.
www.instagram.com/p/By2klVeglEq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Nollywood is Nigeria's multi-million dollar sector ranked second in the world after Bollywood in the quality of films produced. Nollywood's main themes are love and marriage, witchcraft, crime and folklores.
But The Critic's have found a peculiar niche that is not common in the industry in Nigeria. Their 20 short movies which are up to 10 minutes in duration are mostly about superheroes, aliens with supernatural abilities.
Speaking of their new-found fame, 19-year-old Godwin Josiah said, “Well the main aim was not for our stuff to go viral, we just wanted people to see that okay there are kids in Kaduna doing something different, so that was just the main aim. So it all of a sudden just happening, it blew our minds and it made us happy.”
How can parents support prodigies?
Firstly, parents need to let themselves believe in whichever path their kids have chosen. Not just believe but to actually show their children that they believe in them. This does so much for a child's confidence.
Even if you as a parent can't bring yourself to believe in what your kid does, don't stand in their way. Support them as best as you could.
Read also: What 70-Year Study Reveals About Raising Successful Children
Source: Reuters TV
