Has Kannywood lost its Kano identity?
Unlike when film artists were seen around roaming from one location to another within the metropolis and to outlying towns and villages shooting films, most of the celebrated actors and actresses are today rarely seen in town, unless at occasions or ceremonies involving relatives, friends and associates. Speaking to Weekend Magazine on the issue, ace […]
Unlike when film artists were seen around roaming from one location to another within the metropolis and to outlying towns and villages shooting films, most of the celebrated actors and actresses are today rarely seen in town, unless at occasions or ceremonies involving relatives, friends and associates.
Speaking to Weekend Magazine on the issue, ace Kannywood actor, Sani Musa Danja, did not mince his words, “The industry in Kano is dead. But if you are talking about the Hausa film industry, it is very much alive, because the actors and actresses are still there and doing what they know best, but not in Kano. This is acting. Contrary to what we have and ought to have in the entertainment industry, the Kano state government is not helping issues. They have set stringent rules that cannot help the industry grow in the north”.
“The north, particularly Kano, has a lot of untapped talent; but the government is not supportive and encouraging. With the various rules they have set, it cannot help the Kannywood industry to move forward. For instance, they set an age limit of 35 years for any lady that should act. Tell me what lady at that age would be able to play the role of a teenager or even a toddler. It’s ridiculous”, Sani added.
He went on: “Another aspect is that they are asking that we present our script to them for screening before we can start shooting the film. In this process they freeze and remove so many scenes from the script. This at the end of the day makes it very useless and meaningless to the audience.
“So for these very unnecessary rules they have set for the actors in Kano, most of us have decided to take our talent elsewhere. That is by moving outside the state to places like Kaduna, Abuja, Jos and Lagos. Of recent, some Kannywood producers went to Dubai. So you can see that we are expanding even outside the shores of Nigeria. But you know, they always say ‘you do not know the value of what you have until you lose it’; that is the case with the Kano government.
“So yes I say Kannywood as in the industry in Kano is dead and long forgotten, because right now we are no more shooting films in Kano as the act has been completely banned”.
Isma’il Afakallahu is also a film producer who has resorted to operating in other states other than Kano. To him, the conditions they initially thought were too harsh, and which forced them to flee their homes, have turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as they realize that filmmaking in their new found homes were by far better.
According to him, “Hausa filmmaking in its entirety is experiencing rapid progress as we now have a better understanding and appreciation of what the whole concept of filmmaking is, and therefore produce better films with excellent storylines, better themes, we are now exposed to using more sophisticated equipment and have a clearer understanding that Hausa film is beyond the boundaries we initially thought it was limited to. We are now admired by people who really know the value of communication which film is integral part of.
“Evident to that is the fact that our films are now counted among the array of standard-quality films for international consumption as everyone knows that our films, like films of renowned film industries around the globe, are watched via satellite and the internet and also compete with such films in the international market. All these are end-results of the harsh rules put in place by the Kano State Films Censorship Board, which made us abandon our homes for other places, therefore it is a blessing on us and we have no regrets whatsoever leaving Kano. ” said Afakallah.
He argued that most popular films of today would not have been possible to produce in Kano, given the stringent conditions there. He gave the titles of such films like Azal, Jamila da Jamilu, Ali, and Ajanabiya which he said have become blockbusters because the producers had free reign to be creative.
But in contrast to Afakallah’s assertion that leaving Kano was a blessing, one of the film directors that still operate out of Kano, Mohammed Auwal, popularly called George, said the reason some filmmakers see the conditions regarding films in Kano as stringent was because they were not law-abiding. For him, Kano is conducive for film production, and he was not contemplating leaving it for any other place.
“Kano is the root of Hausa films, and I see nothing wrong in introducing regulations to films activities as the censorship board is doing. Even though the fact that a lot of actors couldn’t cope with the conditions of sanitizing the industry and decided to leave, it must be accepted that Hausa films, not minding where they are produced, are now better from script to screen; producers, directors, artists and all other stakeholders are now being more careful by ensuring that their films are of standard, in accordance with the provisions of the films censorship board. So I think it’s Okay that some left, even though that caused some effects on film activities in the state, leaving behind a few that are coping. But I assure you that the fewer, the better as far as filmmaking in Kano is concerned” said George.
When contacted on the issue, the Director General, Kano State Films Censorship Board Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, said the action of abandoning the state for other states by filmmakers had no effect on filmmaking and production in the state. He said Kano would ‘forever’ remain the home of the industry as it remains the major market of Hausa films. “There is no cause for alarm as only insignificant filmmakers left the state”, he said.
According to him, “Kano has no regrets regarding filmmakers relocating to other states; after all their number is quite insignificant. The ones that left are simply not law-abiding while the left behind the law-abiding ones which is good for our culture and well-being. The state has been the centre of Hausa films and will remain as such forever, just like Hollywood films are mostly produced in California, while America remains the centre. In fact, as I am talking to you now, over 60 percent of films produced elsewhere are being censored by Kano State censorship board. Also, exports of Hausa films, even the uncensored ones like Cocaine to other countries like Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo and the rest, are done from Kano and the state is very proud of that”.
He further said, “As far as Kano and people of Kano are concerned, their leaving Kano is simply a blessing, since the state is now free of their adulterated and polluted projects, which poison the religion and the young minds”.
On the other hand, he said that the issue had been overblown by some stakeholders in the media cycle in the name of freedom of expression. “These media practitioners that have overblown the issue in the name of freedom of expression, should be conscious of the fact that while trying to exercise their rights, they shouldn’t tamper with that of other people because where their rights stop, the rights of others start,” Rabo said.
A distributor of Hausa films, Mohammed Na’ibi, who runs Kwality Audio-Visuals also said the idea that the rules of the state censorship board brought sanity to the industry at the initial stage, but added that the board later overstepped its bounds. “By over stretching its boundaries, the censorship board ended up driving out many filmmakers out of the state and therefore leaving the state at a disadvantage, because as a result of the action, it lost a lot of revenue and Kano artists, especially the female at the receiving end. That paved way for artists in the new film states to be co-opted as major characters in films and also the Kano market which was the major market has become stagnant because the films are no longer produced and marketed here as a result of the board’s inflexible rules”.
Commenting on the problems of marketing of films, Na’ibi said the most serious ones were the issues of piracy and regulation. According to him, “two major problems with film marketing are piracy and regulation of film vending. The marketers on their own have problem of disunity among them; there is no proper coordination and that is why films are pushed to the market haphazardly, such that people’s choices are not checked. On piracy which is the worst, the pirates take a number of films to China and produce them in DVDs, come back to Nigeria and other countries to sell them at a very cheap rate of between 120 naira and 150 naira, while we here sell the original film at the rate of N200. So how do you think people will buy the single VCD films when they have about 30 films in one DVD at a cheaper price?” he asked.
For people like Ibrahim Mandawari, who is one of the pioneers in the industry, filmmaking was growing at natural pace, the only problem being that it had some inherent problems like that of funding, indiscipline among actors and piracy of finished products, which affects producers and marketers alike.
In a previous interview, Mandawari said he was working on a number of scripts but would only produce the films when the tenure of the present government of the state expired because to the rules it is enforcing through the state’s censorship board.
Studio operators too are affected by the turn of events. This is so because it is usually at their studios that some technical aspects of filmmaking like editing and voicing, are done. Bello Vocal operates Vocal Sound Studio. He also spoke on how the industry is fairing, particularly in Kano. “It is agreed that films are no longer done in Kano, but all other post-production services are done here and we make more money because now films are becoming better valued and expensive as a single film is now sold for up to N5m. So the situation has two sides to it, the good and the bad. While the state loses in terms of revenue and employment opportunities particularly at locations, we that offer post-production services benefit more, owing to the fact that filmmakers now realize that they are gaining more grounds by the day as they expand their trade, which in turn means more money”.
Hajia Amina Usman, who runs a Hausa films rental centre in her house, said she recently resorted to travelling to other places where she said better films are made and sold in order to retain the patronage of her customer. “Better selling films are no longer found in Kano, and therefore I travel to places like Kaduna and Abuja to purchase films that are in vogue in order to keep this rental service going. The fact is people are tired of the usual Kano soyayya films and opt for films with better concepts and themes. People love to see upcoming actors in films and it is evident that the Kaduna and Abuja actors are more exposed and articulate; they therefore perform better”.
Whichever way the controversy is viewed by officials of the censor’s board, the fear that Kano might not regain its position as hub of Hausa films in the north is inescapable. Most of the stakeholders said they are faring better in their newfound destinations. One of the most popular directors in the industry, Falalu Dorayi, was forthright, “the leverage we are experiencing elsewhere is just marvellous; so I doubt if Kano can ever regain its position as the home of Hausa films, because we are now better informed of how filmmaking should be and operate better in places like Kaduna, Abuja, Gombe, Bauchi, Minna and recently, Zamfara and outside the shores of the country”.