A Cinematic Reflection on Nigeria’s Political Economy Using Nollywood’s Black Book as a Lens

In a nation where memory is contested and justice elusive, the cinema exists as both witness and warrior. This study undertakes a screen semiotic analysis of The Black Book (2023), a groundbreaking Nollywood political thriller directed by Editi Effiong, to explore how Nigerian cinema reflects and critiques the country’s turbulent political economy. Anchored in Nigeria’s socio-political realities, militarism, corruption, privatization, and elite impunity, the film is read as a complex cinematic text that interrogates the architecture of state power and moral agency. Utilizing screen semiotics as the primary methodology, the paper analyzes rhetorical tropes, modality, mise-en-scène, camera work, narrative gaps, and auditory codes to reveal how the film constructs a symbolic resistance to hegemonic state narratives. The study draws from foundational theorists such as Barthes, Metz, Hall, and Mulvey, applying their insights to African visual storytelling traditions. Particular attention is paid to themes of justice versus injustice, personal redemption, and institutional complicity, as well as the film’s connotative use of symbols such as books, churches, silence, and uniforms. This study positions The Black Book not only as a cinematic achievement but also as a political act, an artistic archive of Nigeria’s democratic contradictions, and a visual grammar of resistance for its uncertain future.