Many years ago, long before Nollywood became a global force, there lived an Amazon who sat behind the camera, plotting, creating, watching, insisting and directing. A woman who aimed for excellence and value in her work and those around her. A woman who shaped a great language of storytelling.
Born Uzoamaka Audrey Igwe and popularly known as Amaka Igwe, she created a whole legacy which would be remembered and talked about in Nollywood for many decades to come. Amaka Igwe was a woman of shrewd intelligence and spirit who dared to dream and dared to create.
She was an astute filmmaker and broadcasting executive, owner of Top Radio 90.9 Lagos and the Amaka Igwe studios, also recognized as one of the second generation filmmakers who birthed and pushed the video film era of the Nollywood industry. It was amazing and also difficult because her career started at a time when television in Nigeria was still evolving. And with times like that, resources were limited, opportunities were scarce and the hope for a bright future seemed impossible or distant but she persevered.
To her, our stories must be told and not just told but in a very original way, in a simple way that truly describes who we truly are as a people.
“I believe in telling our stories our own way” she once stated which was a profound description and the truth about Amaka Igwe’s work. She was a consummate artist and one of the greatest filmmakers Nigeria ever had.
She created Checkmate, a very famous Nigerian series that ran in the early 1990’s from 1991-1994. Checkmate was a major breakthrough and it starred veteran actors like the late Francis Agu, Bob Manuel-Udokwu, Ego Nnamani (Ego Boyo), Richard Mofe-Damijo, Kunle Bamtefa and Mildred Iweka. This series aired on NTA back then. The layering of the characters and the impeccable dialogue caught the hearts of so many, in fact a lot of people saw themselves in these characters and that was one of those fine moments that stood out.
“Excellence is not negotiable” she always emphasized and this was an important mantra to live by. To her, discipline was extremely adhered to, she lived and strived for excellence. For people that worked with her, she challenged them to push forth the best versions of themselves, Amaka Igwe provided no room for mediocrity whatsoever.
At the time, female directors were rare. The entertainment scene was dominated by male filmmakers but for Amaka Igwe, excellence was the only goal irrespective of gender. “I don’t think of myself as a female filmmaker, I think of myself as a filmmaker. Period”. Her words!
Towards the 2000’s era, there seemed to be a rush with how movies were being churned out which could affect quality and put quantity ahead but Amaka Igwe didn’t derail, she stood firm and refused to conform. “Our stories are rich enough, we don’t need to cut corners to make them meaningful”. And this reflected deeply in her work.
Beyond the 90’s Checkmate series, she gave us the famous Fuji House of Commotion sitcom, a sitcom that was widely watched in so many Nigerian homes in the early 2000’s. The show was a spinoff of Checkmate. It was a family oriented comedy that mainly focused and highlighted the funny chaos and rivalry in Nigerian polygamous homes. It was very successful, had wide reach and is still spoken about till this day.
She gave us Nollywood projects like RattleSnake and Violated which were produced in the video film era, the “home video” phase of Nollywood. She had Nigerians glued to their television screens back then with engaging, compelling content and impeccable storytelling. Her narratives were sound and relatable and we know how important relatability in film is. People seeing themselves through characters and imagery on screen with the burst of emotions that follows the entire experience: the laughter, the tears, the excitement, the pain.
Amaka Igwe stood out till she had to take a bow in 2014 when the industry was shook by the devastating news of her demise, due to asthma. It was so heartbreaking, so shocking, so profound. Condolences and tributes poured in from every side: colleagues, actors, audiences, everyone who recognized and understood the force that she was.
Veteran actress Genevieve Nnaji considered Amaka Igwe a mentor and described her death in 2014 as the “darkest day of her career” which highlighted the major impact Amaka Igwe had on Genevieve through her journey in film. She was a pioneer, a trailblazer, an Amazon, a standard!
Nollywood today is among the biggest film industries globally. Great quality production, excellent dialogue, competitive storytelling which were some of those things Amaka Igwe stood for.
Amaka Igwe lived for every producer that cared for and valued the importance of authenticity, quality structure and no compromise. Till this day, she is revered and respected for the immense amount of work and passion she embodied through her career. She redefined film, created organic stories that would last a lifetime, discovered talents that came to limelight through her.
She is Amaka Igwe and her influence will remain unmistakable till forever, beyond a lifetime.