Re-producing Self, Community, and ‘Naija’ in Nigerian Diaspora Films: Soul Sisters in the United States and Man on the Ground in South Africa

Abstract

Nigerian cultural producers around the world represent themselves and their communities through global media outlets. They socially construct the ‘Naija’ identity, which has been forged in the postcolonial era to represent the transnational experiences of Nigerians in Africa and the African Diaspora. This chapter presents findings from in-depth interviews of filmmakers, Boston-based Rahman Oladigbolu and Johannesburg-based Akin Omotoso, providing detail about who they are, their experiences in the Nigerian Diaspora, and their productions—In America: The Story of the Soul Sisters, and Man on Ground, respectively. Racial, ethnic, cultural, and transnational identities are examined to describe how they have come to understand themselves and their communities (United States and South Africa) as a result of being a part of the Nigerian Diaspora.