Nigeria BattaBox Documentary Series with Odunayo Oti | Review

by James M. Williams Jr.
(Alaska USA)

Even though I am rarely filming any longer, I am still on a lookout for thoughts and ideas about documentary filmmaking.

I was looking into woodworking and woodcarving because I'm a woodcarver/artist/blacksmith.

I came across a video filmed in Nigeria about woodcarvers in Africa.

The presenter's name is "Odunayo Oti" of Nigeria.

She is a gorgeous and exotic beauty, but yet does outstanding videos of countries in Africa, including and especially in her home country Nigeria.

The first film I watched by her as I said was about woodcarvers. I watched several others because I am captivated by this woman and her documentaries.

The Woodcarver video:

This one is about chocolate and the cocoa bean farms in Nigeria:

I'm sending this to show you and to give you ideas to pass on to your subscribers. A word of warning. This woman has an entire series and dozens of video documentaries and short docs. She quite literally explores every aspect of life in her home country.

Many of the topics are extremely powerful. They are raw, unpretentious, honest and real. Some of the topics and subject matter are nothing less than disturbing. But what I really appreciate about her is her very honest approach to every topic that she covers, and she does so without covering up the truth and without trying to disguise it.

Her videos are straightforward and very, VERY honest.

I love her beautiful English Speaking Accent, although it is a bit heavy and difficult to understand sometimes.

So why am I sharing this? Well, your website is about documentary filmmaking.

The young woman and the presenter in the videos is exactly what documentaries are supposed to be, at least that's what I think in my book. I love the way that she doesn't candy coat anything.

She has given the world a very close and intimate look into real life in her country.

She is not focused on the selling point that might appeal to a less than open minded viewer, and she is not interested in the tourism aspect and what the outside world might find attractive and interesting.

She presents her world, her country, its people and cultures exactly as they are.

Some of the topics are quite brutal, others give a detailed and intimate look at life in Nigeria, and others still, are very entertaining, funny and fun to watch. And that's what I really love about her videos.

You would not believe some of the topics that she explores and has filmed. Much of her films are hard to watch because of the topic matters. The honesty she brings is wonderful, bright, cheery yet brutal and real at the same time. Maybe you could pass this on to your subscribers as a suggestion and starting point so that they have a good idea for their documentary projects. Her topics might spark a few ideas for the up and coming filmmakers and the wannabes who are just having a look. Who knows?