Negotiating Nollywood: Women, Violence, and Postfeminist Sensibilities in the Nigerian Film Industry

ABSTRACT Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, is the second largest globally in terms of the number of films produced annually. Women, through roles as actresses and, more recently, as producers and directors, have gained avenues to grow their careers and social status within both the industry and broader Nigerian society. However, despite this visibility, research reveals that women are often confined to stereotypical roles and subjected to public vitriol for their personal and professional choices. Although existing studies have examined female representation on screen, few have engaged directly with women working within Nollywood to explore their lived experiences. This paper analyses ten in‐depth interviews with female filmmakers to explore the complex realities they navigate. Our findings show that although progress is being made, with more women occupying leadership positions, many continue to face systemic challenges such as sexual harassment, exploitation, gender stereotyping, and symbolic violence. Crucially, the analysis draws on postfeminist sensibilities to understand the “psychic work” these women perform: the internal negotiation of agency, ambition, and vulnerability in a male‐dominated industry. This includes the self‐regulation of emotions, the pressure to present their struggles as individual choices or triumphs, and the balancing act between personal empowerment and structural constraint. This study thus provides a unique contribution by foregrounding the affective and cognitive labor required of women in Nollywood, situating their experiences within broader postfeminist logics of individualism, resilience, and self‐discipline under neoliberal gender regimes. It contributes toward a transnational understanding of the operation of postfeminist sensibilities that undermine women's equality and rights within the film industry.