dar 2 lagos 163industry was developing in Dar es Salaam. Early on, variously labeled
Tolly wood, Swahiliwood, or Bongowood—the latter being a compos-
ite of bongo (Swahili for “brain” and a nickname for Dar es Salaam) and
“Holly wood”—this fast-growing industry soon began to release several
so-called Bongo movies per week. Similar to its big sister, Nolly wood, the
Dar es Salaam–based industry had its roots in local drama and television
production (Lange 2002). Most productions were realized by independent
drama groups and were marketed nationwide (and beyond) by a handful
of distributors (Böhme 2011).
Early on, Nolly wood served as a reference point for Tanzanian film-
makers, their critics, and spectators. Actor and director Vincent Kigosi
referred to himself as Mr. Nolly wood (like the Nigerian actor Ifeanyi
Ikpoenyi, aka Mr. Holly wood). A series of newspaper articles written by
a certain Mapunda Selles was titled “Nilichojifunza Nolly wood!” (W hat I
learned in Nolly wood!). Selles went to study in Nigeria. However, he spent
two years attempting to break into the Nigerian video industry rather
than attending classes. On his return to Dar es Salaam in 2006, his trip to
the African dream factory Nolly wood saw him turn into a critic of local
production values and video film style.^3 By 2007, for some, Nigeria—or
rather Nolly wood—was still the promised land of African video film pro-
duction. For others, Bongo movies had long since caught up.
In 2003, Tamba Arts group released Nsyuka, the “first Tanzanian hor-
ror movie,” as its cover so boldly announces. The film about a revenant
with a predilection for human flesh was a huge success, second only to
Girlfriend—a local hip-hop movie released earlier the same year (Böhme
2007). Nsyuka set the path for a number of ensuing productions. Since
then, director Mussa Banzi has produced a sequel and several other hor-
ror movies. Considering the fact that he himself is a horror film fan with
a predilection for American and European horror movies (Mussa Banzi,
pers. comm., September 13, 2007), it comes as no surprise that Nsyuka
and his other films are stylistically influenced, strongly so, by the Western
version of the genre, in terms of camera work; preferred settings, such as
graveyards; character types, and the soundtrack—sometimes even copied
directly from American horror movies (like Nsyuka, which derives part
of its soundtrack from the A merican horror classic, Friday the 13th). How-
ever, far from simply localizing American horror movies, Banzi worked
the other way around and adapted local folk beliefs to horror videos