Kannywood director, 2 others to appear before court over uncensored movies

Following the unauthorized release of the controversial movie Ana Wata ga Wata into market by owners of the movie after the state censorship board had publically banned the movie release, the board mobile court has invited three people to appear before it in respect to the unauthorized release of the movie. Those invited by the […]

Following the unauthorized release of the controversial movie Ana Wata ga Wata into market by owners of the movie after the state censorship board had publically banned the movie release, the board mobile court has invited three people to appear before it in respect to the unauthorized release of the movie.
Those invited by the court are the director of the movie, Ali Gumzak, the producer Abdulazeez Dan Small and the executive producer of the movie Nuhu Abdullahi. The trio will appear before magistrate Aminu Fagge at court 43 today.
It could be remembered that Kano State Censorship Board announced the ban on the movie, ‘Ana Wata GA Wata’ when it was about to be released to the market. The ban was announced by the Director-General of the board, Alhaji Isma’il Afakallah. saying that, the decision to ban the movie was in line with the commitment of the board to ensure that film makers conform to the rules and regulations of the industry’s regulatory body, the state censorship board.
He said that the board banned the film because it discovered that the trailer released had caused a lot of uproar in the state and a lot of complains where raised on the movie adding that the content of the movie was against the religious and cultural values of the people of the state in particular and the North in general.
He further explained that the producers of the movie released it to the website without allowing it to undergo the normal process of preview by the board.
“The trailer of the film was released in the website by the producers without following the due process, hence the decision of the board to ban the film. Following complaints from the public, the board had no option than to ban the film from being released to the market even when it is completed. To our dismay, we found out that the owners of the movie have released it uncensored.
“We have gone round and we have made arrest and confiscation of the movie. We have taken the arrested individuals before the court and also we have secure conviction. The court has also sent an invitation to three individuals connected with the release of the uncensored movie,” said Afakallah.
It was also gathered that, the Kano state censorship board mobile court had fined one Ibrahim Mai Kaita N50,000 for  hawking of an uncensored Hausa movie titled ‘Matan Abuja’ at Kofar Famfo in the state metropolis. Similarly, one Nura Yakasai was also fined N10, 000 for hawking the controversial uncensored ‘Ana Wata ga Wata’, it was also gathered that the court has warned the duo not to be involved in such act again.
Afakallah said the board was not witch-hunting anybody adding that the board had a mandate and nothing would stop it from accomplishing what it was asked to do by the law establishing it.
“It should be understood that we have our religion, integrity, and our culture to protect in this board. It is not an issue of vendetta as assumed by some people, we have a mandate and we will ensure that we have done our best to see that we have done the expected.
“The board is strongly committed to ensuring that we have maintained sanity in the movie industry and all other aspects that comes under the mandate of the board. The board will not fold its arms and allow producers in the state to release films which do not follow the normal procedure,” he warned.