The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has announced it will release a comprehensive catalogue documenting all films and videos registered in the country since the early days of Nollywood’s video era. This is a major step in the Nigeria’s film industry to preserve its legacy.
This announcement was made by NFVCB’s Executive Director and CEO, Dr. Husseini Shaibu in a LinkedIn post that the first volume of the three-part publication will be launched in September.
This project marks the first time Nigeria’s vast film industry will have an official, year-by-year public record of its productions. For years, researchers, journalists, and film enthusiasts have struggled with the lack of a formal database, making it difficult to track the growth and transformation of the industry.
The first volume, titled A Compendium of Film & Video Works Registered and Classified from 1994 to 2004, will cover a decade that many consider the foundation of modern Nollywood.
The compendium is expected to become a vital resource for film historians, critics, and scholars, offering clarity to the timeline and volume of Nigerian films, especially during the home video boom of the 1990s and early 2000s.
More than a record of titles, this release is a bold step toward preserving the country’s cultural memory. As Nollywood grows into the digital age and gains more visibility on global platforms, the need for proper documentation has become urgent. Without records, stories risk being forgotten. With this initiative, Nigeria is choosing to remember.