How I crossed from observer to participant in Hausa films –Carmen McCain

It’s actually a long story. I actually grew up in Jos or we moved there when I was a child so I already knew a little bit of Hausa. At the time, I wasn’t really interested because I was going to an international school and didn’t use Hausa so I just knew market language/reading, that […]

It’s actually a long story. I actually grew up in Jos or we moved there when I was a child so I already knew a little bit of Hausa. At the time, I wasn’t really interested because I was going to an international school and didn’t use Hausa so I just knew market language/reading, that sort of thing. But when I went back to grad school to do my post graduate degrees, I was planning to write on contemporary Nigerian writing in English. But one of my requirements at the University of Wisconsin in Madison at the department of African languages and literature was that I become able to use and read an Africa language and Hausa was one of the languages they offered at that time at my university. And because I knew a little bit of Hausa, I was like let me continue with that, it will be easier and maybe I can get a little money and come back to Nigeria and do what I was really planning to do, which is write on English language writing. But then when I went back for intervals and in fact, I went back to Sokoto for a language learning course, at that time that’s when my teacher gave me Hausa novels to read and also pointed me to Hausa films to be watching to help my Hausa. And so what really was a language learning exercise became a fascination. I never heard about Hausa films, I never heard about Hausa novels. And when I went to Kano to meet some of the people, I just found it’s so exciting what was going on. It was like one of these literary movements or these art movements I have read about. I was like I want to do my research in that and also become involved in that.

You were primarily an observer, now you have crossed over into the field by acting in some flicks yourself. Can you share that experience with us?

For me, it’s more like a community sort of thing and of course, when you are a creative person, and I write creative literature as well, I think there are always these urges that you have, you kind of have these secret ideas. I mean, I always wanted to be a writer, a published novelist, so, you know, you kind of have these ideas that you want to be an actor or something and when I started looking at Hausa films, I met Abbas Sadiq, who I had seen in the film Albashi and that was a film I had written a paper on and actually published. So, I was excited to meet him and then when we were talking, he started thinking of a role for me and he kind of wrote me into the script and asked me if I was a go, [I said] I don’t know about that and then he said he had already worked on the script. So I felt kind of like oh!. So for me, it’s like being part of the community and people having roles for a baturiya [laughs] and just first of all having kind of an interest anyway and then also as when friends ask you to do something. It was kind of both an interest and a friendship, community sort of thing. And being part of a community, rather than just sitting around watching people and writing about people, actually being involved in the community.

Tell us about the role you played?

There have been several films actually. I have played several doctors in several films. In fact, doctor seems to be the role I am typecast as – doctor [laughs]. My sister is actually a doctor, so it’s kind of fun. I also played a victim of scam in 419 [part] two with Sani Danja, that was in 2006 and very recently, I played Matan Ibro, the wife of Ibro in Ibro ya Auri Baturiya. Just a few weeks ago, we just finished shooting the part two of Ibro ya Auri Baturiya.

How have you been received by Kannywood fans?

You know, I don’t know. After I did 419 (two) which was apparently quite popular, I wasn’t in the country, so… I heard that it was a popular film and when I came back, there where few people that would shout ‘419!’ when I walked pasts. Ibro Ya Auri Baturiya has helped me and in some cases – I can’t actually tell the stories, but I was having problems with something and I went into the office and everyone in the office had just watched Ibro ya Auri Baturiya. I went in and didn’t have any more problems. I mean, that part has been nice. There have been….I was on an acaba once and I was trying to buy a newspaper and a kid [who] was selling Ibro ya Auri baturiya came up and everybody started… so, those have been interesting but for themost part, most of my time, I spend with people in Kannywood, people doing it so it hasn’t been anything. Basically, I was glad to have the opportunity to participate in something most of my friends in Kano are involved in and also have an understanding of how it all works, and also, I don’t think I am that great an actress but I am glad for the opportunity to get better and to learn. So what I am doing right now is, if I appear in a film, I think of it as a learning experience and a way of training myself.

What are the challenges of acting in Kannywood?

First of all, I don’t have a lot of experience so I don’t want to like go all out and say these are the hardships when there are other people who can say these much better than I can. But a couple of the challenges, as far as scheduling is concerned, I think that has to do with money and the production level and that sort of thing. Producers may tell you one day and you set aside that day and it doesn’t happen and then you might get squeezed, or they go over a day and you have other things scheduled and they go ‘please, please, please put off the things that you’ve scheduled and finish the film. So, those are the challenges and those are challenges that I think need to be addressed. And other things, [like] acting with very experienced actors when I am unexperienced, sometimes it’s a little bit intimidating. I haven’t acted that many films so I can’t…but those are the few challenges I would say.

Over the last two years there has been this tsunami of censorship in the industry, how do you think that has impacted on the industry?

Well, let me speak on that from the point of view of a researcher. I have talked to people who say different things. A lot of people I know dislike anything to do with Kano State Censorship Board and indeed they have been quite harsh on people. There have been a lot of arrests, there’ve been people taken to court, they are not quite sure why they have been taken to court, they’ve been quickly sentenced in this mobile court where it seems like, from what I’ve heard, everyone who goes to the mobile court gets sentenced there; that’s sort of hearsay. But a lot of people I know in Kannywood don’t have anything good to say about the Kano State Censorship Board. There are a few who think that, even though they disagree with what the censorship board has done, they think that the quality of films has actually gotten better because people were forced to compete, not only in the Kano market but outside, they are forced to use better equipment, the picture quality has gone up. There are some people who think, ironically, even though they disagree with Kano State Censorship Board, it has some unintentional… in fact Kano State Censorship Board itself said it wants to improve quality in that sort of thing, I don’t agree with the way they are doing it. This is one thing Isiaka Jalingo, who won the best Nigerian language film at the Zuma film festival said, it was one thing he kept repeating to me, he said the best way to improve film is not by arresting people or harassing them but by offering them incentives like this award ceremony. Even before he won the award, he was like, oh, I think I’m going to focus this film, I’m going to try to make this film for this award. So, people actually  see the award as a challenge to meet and they try to make a film that will meet certain standards for the awards. And I’ve heard quite a few film makers saying that. So I think the best way to improve film is not to like arrest people and say you must have this much money in the bank, you must do this, that and the other, you must have an office here, you must, you know, there are independent film makers in the US, there are books, How to Make a Film with a Hundred Dollars. It’s not the amount of money you have but the amount of creativity and what you do with that. And so the awards, like the SIM awards and other film festival awards, other things like that are encouraging people to meet certain standards and improve their films rather than trying to beat people into the ground. So, I think the Kano State Censorship Board is going about it the wrong way, I don’t have any bones about saying that and I think there are other ways to improve the films.

Who and who do you think have been the most outstanding artistes in Kannywood?

Artistes? [laughs]. That’s sort of a political question but I’ve seen great performances. That’s one of the strength of Kannywood, I think they have very, very talented artistes, so I’ve seen amazing performances by Aisha Dankano. The comedians I think are brilliant, Ibro, Dan Auta, Daushe, Saratu Gidado, Baban Chinedu – now I’m gonna leave out somebody and somebody’s going to be mad at me, I think the comedians are very brilliant at what they do. I’ve seen fantastic performances by Sani Danja and Mansura Isa, Zainab Idris, Ali Nuhu, of course, Zainab Gombe. The actors in Kannywood are very talented.

Let’s talk about the themes now. There seems to be a lot of focus on love stories. Why do you think this is the case?

I heard the head of the censorship board last year say he wouldn’t read anymore novels on love in Kano for a year, that was in last year’s conference in Niger [Republic]. I think you have to be careful because love is a part of life, right? If you look at all great literature, there are romantic poets who wrote about love all the time like Shakespeare. So much great literature has love as an element in it and so I think when people say they are focusing on love stories too much, I would say there are a lot of family dramas involving love in the house. So some of it is what’s popular with people who watch, people like love stories, [in] some it’s that love tends to twine itself into every story. And some of them say it actually reflects the reality of what’s happening. I’ve heard actors say, this happened to me, or because I’m an actor or a musician, I was in love with this girl and her family would not allow me to marry her because her family didn’t approve of my [career]. So a lot of time I think there are actually a lot of people making the films who are writing about their own story, or something that happened to their neighbours or something that happened to their friends, and they see love as a very important aspect that they are experiencing and they are making films about it. And I wouldn’t say they are all about love stories because I’ve heard some film makers saying I’m  not gonna make any more films about love because there are other things in society that we need to be focusing on; poverty, almajirai, these sort of social issues. So I think the stereotype that the films are always about love is a bit of a stereotype. I would say they are like social family drama, there are the actions, like Hassan Giggs’ films, most of them are action. There are thrillers, mystery, even horror. There are spiritual, religious films. So, I don’t think they are all about love, maybe the majority but they are not all about that. I think there are a lot of other genres, like the epic/historical films; Sani Danja and Yakubu Muhammad just came out with one a few months ago, which was kind of a transcontinental story, which may include an element of love, right? Because the element of love is there, I wouldn’t say it’s all about love.

In terms of your personal commitment to Kannywood, what should we expect in the next few months?

Well, really what I am doing, I’m trying to write my PhD dissertation, so, I really have to buckle down and focus on writing at some point. But there are a few more films that…I am actually going to Zaria to act in a film, so I’m planning to do a little more of that. At some point after I have finished my degree I’ll be interested in producing, possibly even directing but that’s the sort of thing that I feel I need to just sit and observe and think. I have several script ideas but these are not necessarily in the next year or so, possibly long term plans.

So, what do you think of the future of Kannywood?

The future of Kannywood, I think is very bright. So many people focus on the negative aspect but I think I’m unapologetically an optimist and a lot of people have recently criticized me for that optimism but I think when so many people are pointing out the bad things about the films and the industry, I don’t feel as much a need to do that because that has already been done so I would rather look at the positive. Now there’s a Hausa Channel on DStv, there is HiTv there. So I think those sort of things are establishing and entrenching Hausa films beyond just the Kano market but also outside. I think the Kano industry might become a bit de-centred from Kano. It has already happened mostly because of the censorship. People have left Kano and are releasing films which they don’t pass through the Kano State censorship board so they are not accessed in Kano. So I think Hausa films are gonna go out, they are probably going to become more conscious, not just of the audience but the outside world and outside film festivals and that sort of things. I’m already seeing that happen. So I think it just onwards and upwards as far as I’m concerned. Of course, you’re gonna have trashy films; every industry has that, but I think I’ve been impressed with the best of Kannywood and the best of Kannywood is very good and so I think we’re gonna see more of that, hopefully.