Authors: Adeleye Oluwadarasimi
This article looks into studying the profound intersection between culture, tradition, history, and African identity through the lens of two highly impactful Nigerian documentary films - Marked (2019) directed by Nadine Ibrahim, and Bigger than Africa (2018) by Toyin Adekeye. The Nigeria-set Marked extensively explores the enduring practice of scarification (body markings) in various Nigerian cultures, with a detailed examination of its intricate link to beauty, spirituality, and personal identity among the people of the culture. While Mr. Toyin Adekeye's Bigger than Africa tells a captivating story of the journey of enslaved Africans with peculiar focus on the slaves of Yoruba descent by tracing the trans-Atlantic slave trade history between the 16th and 19th century, thereby revealing the remarkable resilience of the Yoruba people and their culture even in the face of difficulty. This article analyses these documentary films within the scope of studying African identity, cultures, traditions, and the impact of foreign influence, etc.
Keywords: Documentary films, Nigeria, culture, tradition, history.
Adeleye Oluwadarasimi, Film Maker, MSc Film Production. School of Media and Communication. PAN-ATLANTIC University, Lagos, Nigeria. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
