Spectacular fictions: serving history on the go

The articles introduced in this essay were first presented during an online event convened on the platform of the Fagunwa Study Group in September 2023. The focus of the panel was the slew of new films marketed as epic primarily on Netflix, the giant US streaming platform. High-budgeted, clever in deploying production values, and making sumptuous use of dynamic landscapes, these films generate constant online attention commensurate with the extravagant ways they generate tensions between surface realism and a hard-headed groping for cultural depth. Panelists were encouraged to base their contributions on any of the following questions: What connections, if any, do these films suggest with technical or generic aspects of dramatic presentation in Nigeria, West Africa, and beyond? Is there any generic continuity between them and what was once tagged “folkloric cinema” in Nigerian cinema or in the epics of early Nollywood? With what generic or formal devices does one create fictions that attempt to represent a historical period? While summarizing the main arguments of the articles, this introduction offers some conceptual insights into the transformation of generic categories in the context of online marketing of films mainly for entertainment.