‘I can pick anybody off the street and make him an actor’

You could have been an actress or a producer, why did you opt to be a director? Actually I am a very shy person so I have chosen to deal with the practical aspect of creating things and making things. So for me, I rather remain in the background making things happen than be in […]

You could have been an actress or a producer, why did you opt to be a director?

Actually I am a very shy person so I have chosen to deal with the practical aspect of creating things and making things. So for me, I rather remain in the background making things happen than be in them.

What are the challenges you face being in what’s believed to be male dominated field?

Is it male dominated really? Well! I have not noticed it as a male dominated field, basically it is up to the women to decide whether it is a male dominated field or not and I will encourage women to do what is right. I don’t see the industry as a male dominated field simply because there are varieties of people involved. We have actresses and producers that are women. In fact, my producer is a woman. For us to stand up and penetrate the said male dominated field is very challenging at the beginning and I was in a similar situation before when I was with CTV now ARTV.

How many movies have you directed so far?

Noor is my full length movie. My first movie was the one I did some technical directing on when I was with the radio and television cooperation and that was what sparked my interest in what I am doing at the moment. Similarly, I was the production manager in Maitatsine, third in line to the director on the set, I also did another movie with Sule Umar which is not out yet. I was also the production manager of another movie called Iya Ruwa Fidda Kai.

In what capacity did you serve during your days at CTV?

I served as producer, presenter, director, librarian, newscaster just name it. At that time, the station was a new station and we were trained to do all this at the same time, but mostly I was a producer, director and presenter, and I left CTV since the 80s.

What do you do apart from directing?

I am a media consultant and an entrepreneur; I am my own boss now. This Is what I do apart from directing.

You have been in the industry for quite a long time; how would you describe the achievements so far recorded?

People are now more enlightened because of people like us, because like when we were in CTV our motives were always to educate, entertain and inform. And there are millions of people out there hungry for these things and they do not know how to get it, most of them can’t even read. And the visual and audio media are the best way to communicate to people. And now I can say Kannywood has done a great deal towards that, it is heart warming to know that.

Good story line is said to be the base for a good movie do you subscribe to that?

Actually, a good story entails a lot in a movie and as I have been saying, it is not in our character for a woman to walk up to a man and say I love you. For me is not propper, it is not us. But I don’t blame such scripts or story lines because the people behind the production grew up watching Indian or western movie.

I could vividly recall that when we were kids, we used to go watching the Kalangu, Goge, traditional moonlight music and other forms of traditional entertainment. But hardly will you find children of today going out to watch such events therefore they lack the knowledge of what traditional entertainment entails.

Similarly, one more thing that endeared me to the producer of Noor is that she always ensures that her story has to do with the society and there is no falsehood in it. Take for example Noor which is about surrogacy, a very touching subject. I am a religious person and I pray five times, I don’t have to announce that. What I do right now may be a succour to a lot of people.

I am not being sentimental but I find myself more endeared to scripts produced by Kumbo productions because they are down to earth and realistic. A director translates the script and also tries to visualize it into meaningful scenes. However it is not everything that you translate in the script that can be visualized but a good script should be visualized.

A movie ought to be a mirror of the society; do you see this manifesting in the present movie industry?

I don’t want to lie to you because I have not seen all the movies, but I have watched a couple and the truth is Kannywood should do better, how could one make a movie within three or one week? It means you are in a hurry to hit the market. Actually, the people who approved the script in the first instance should supervise the shooting of the movie.

Would you say there are developments in the industry?

Like I have said if I had watched all the movies I would be in a better position to comment; but really people on my set have been on other’ sets and I have noticed some good changes in them. I am proud to say that the discipline I imposed on my set has been manifesting on other sets because I can see some certain movies have a touch of what I instil.

However, those that protest the most should come and sit down with stakeholders in the industry and tell them where they have erred, maybe from there, we will get a middle way in resolving a lot of issues instead of sitting in the dark accusing each other.

Do you subscribe to the idea that professionalism counts in making movies?

Yes it counts, without professionalism most especially in the area that involves technicality, professionalism really matters. As a director I believe that one ought to have the idea of separating one’s self from what he or she is directing. I have said it before and I will still say it again, I can pick anybody off the street and make him an actor.