A few Nigerian movies are now making a steady in-road into mainstream London cinemas, writes STEVE AYORINDE

Even when they are not yet mainstream by the West's definition, Nollywood is no longer restricted to the video shelves around South east London as major cinemas begin to open their theatres to digitally-projected made-in-Nigeria flicks.
The Nollywood renaissance in the United kingdom started on an academic note early in August when the Ferguson Centre of the Open University, London in collaboration with the Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos took a few Nigerian movies by Tunde Kelani and Amaka igwe to the mainstream theatres of the British Film Institute, as part of the successful conference on Nollywood and the African Diaspora.
Then Niyi Towolawi's digital 35mm film, Twisted, got a sold-out premiere on September 14 at Odeon cinema in Surrey Quays, London, and a national distribution deal of the film across Odeon cinemas in England.
In October, Kunle Afolayan's award-winning Irapada, which already has a distributional deal with Odeon takes the new Nigerian cinema to the next level by being listed as part of this year's London Film Festival, around the same period when the National Film and Video Censors Board in partnership with the Federal Government's Heart of Africa project is storming London with a 'road show' to further popularize the industry and afford actors and directors opportunities to network with the British film industry.
Yet, this month, two new movies - Mission To Nowhere and Mirror of Beauty - join the league of those in the mainstream cinemas having secured distributional deals at Seven Odeon and Cineworld Cinemas where they are being screened across England.
According to the producers of the movies, the feat is a major breakthrough for the Nigerian film industry which has been savouring the gains of international attention since digital technology replaced the traditional celluloid technology for production and distribution of feature films.
Starring some of the big names in the industry like Olu Jacobs, Lari Williams, Stephanie Okereke, Sam Dede, Chika Ike, Mike Ezuruonye and Barbara Soky Mission To Nowhere, directed by Teco Benson, is contemporary while Mirror of Beauty, directed by Okey Zubelu Okoh, is an epic. Both were put together in collaboration with Atlantic Overseas Limited, a company with interest in and commitment to Nollywood.
Prior to going on cinema, and like it is done in international distribution of films, both films had been on billboards and bus stop panels all over London, several weeks before their screening dates.
Mission To Nowhere began showing on Friday, September 21, while Mirror of Beauty will follow on Friday, September 28.
"No doubt a giant leap for the industry, the effect will be immeasurable. Other than taking Nollywood a notch higher, it will also prove to those who had concluded that substandard productions are the lot of Nigerian film makers that a new era is here. Not only that, it will again serve as a serious pointer to the fact that our people are finally set to compete on the international scene, having done their homework, and very well too," said Benson.

STEVE AYORINDE