"SLC-S25/W3-Movie Snapshots|Hidden Gems"

Honestly this movies has not topped the charts but they made very long-standing impressions and I believe that is what the cinema is all about.

Discuss your reasons for saying these movies you have mentioned are lesser known or underrated movies.

I regard these movies as being underrated or little-known in the sense that although, these movies have very interesting storytelling and it carries a rich cultural context and as well the profound message it comes with it never got the amount of attention it should have had. Some were dwarfed by large commercial ventures or some did not have the marketing muscle to reach out to more people or audiences beyond national borders. These movies might not have ended up in any box office lists, but they were worth their visual depth, emotional tenor, and substance that are bound to stay in the mind long after watching.

The example is Take The Figurine: it became a milestone in the development of Nollywood, but was never seen in the rest of the world. Confusion Na Wa gained positive recognition locally and remains unfamiliar to most. Despite having been submitted to the Oscars, The Milkmaid hardly caused any mainstream discussion in Nigeria. Those are not films but the way our society has to be depicted, our culture, our unknown stories. They are cinematic gems that have to be discovered, communicated and remembered by more people.

What do you think can be done to make these movies better known or valued more.

We should invest more in promotion and distribution both locally and internationally in order to make these movies more popular or appreciated. Numerous underrated African and foreign movies are just unlucky because they never reach a big audience and thus people never get a chance to appraise them. Compared to streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Showmax, and YouTube, these streaming services can also be used as wonderful platforms to display these hidden gems, particularly when they are marketed through the use of compilations or localized features.

Local and international film festivals- need to spread their light towards more unusual and lesser known films which tend to narrate actual as well as expressive memories. The acknowledgment of various stories beyond mainstream genres may help provide room to a new voice. Buzz can also be created through product placement in media, web based customer reviews and mention by popular personalities and good social media campaigns.

So nevertheless, nothing beats a word of mouth as one of the most powerful tools. It makes these films fresh when people share them with their friends on their platforms. The audiences also help in making such stories grow. In closing, we should never give up on local filmmakers, authentic stories, and film which carries cultures that we belong to. This is how such little known movies can lastly obtain a stage under the lime light.

All the pictures was screenshot from my YouTube account.

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