‘Kannywood is lucrative’

Weekend Magazine:What inspired you to join Kannywood?Kamal Alkali: The reasons are many, but I developed interest after watching one Hausa film and I thought I could contribute a lot to the industry. I joined the industry through the popular singer/song writer Yakubu Mohammed. I am his fan, I love his songs. It happened that I […]

Weekend Magazine:What inspired you to join Kannywood?
Kamal Alkali: The reasons are many, but I developed interest after watching one Hausa film and I thought I could contribute a lot to the industry. I joined the industry through the popular singer/song writer Yakubu Mohammed. I am his fan, I love his songs. It happened that I once visited him with the help of my friend Nazifi Asnanic, who is also a singer and producer. I was very happy with the way he received us, and how he responded when I told him that I wanted to join the industry. He was very candid and said “you are welcome to the house full of challenges and controversies” and stretched his hand to shake mine. He said I must be cool-headed, focused and creative. Today I have spent 13 years in the industry.
Why did he say you are welcome to the house full of challenges and controversies?
He said here in the industry a little slip can be blown out of proportion. He also said there were internal and external challenges holding the industry back. He also talked about disunity among stakeholders, piracy, poor equipment and lack of sufficient capital, among others. I realized that if I truly want to succeed I would have to close my eyes and ears and focus on how I would go forward.
Many would rather become actors and seen on the screen than remain behind the camera. Why did you choose the latter?
That is very true. Many people are attracted to the industry because of the platform it affords them to be seen far and near. However, many come here wanting to be actors only for them to become directors, producers or makeup artists. For me, right from the onset, I didn’t join Kannywood to become an actor, but to be a script writer and director. I believe by being either a script writer or a director, I can still send my messages across to the people.
You have been in the industry for 13 years. How has it been?
It’s been challenging, no doubt. We’ve had our ups and downs, but there are more ups than downs. Some of the challenges remain memorable, though not for what make them unforgettable. One of the greatest challenges I faced that I would never forget had to do with marketing, which happened after my first movie ‘Ragama’ about eight years ago. I faced the challenge of distribution. In the industry if you don’t collect your money from marketers, you cannot produce another film without difficulty, unless you have something doing outside of the industry. Most of my mates are no longer producing due to this challenge. But with patience and perseverance, we were able to remain in the business and even help others find their feet.
You mean the problem of distribution has not changed?
The problem of marketing and distribution has changed; what we are now facing is the evil called piracy at its peak.  Somebody would be sitting down with his laptop waiting for you to release your film so that he can copy it, produce it either in new disk or convert it and be putting it in people’s phones at the ridiculous rate of N50 or less. The production crew would toil under the sun and in the rain and they would not sleep well through the period of production, only for somebody, somewhere to steal it in the comfort of his room and make money out of it. The most annoying part of it is that we are made to pay the censorship board that has proved incapable of checkmating the crime. Your film can hardly be in the market for up to one week without being pirated.
All the same, I have achieved a lot. During my first four years in the industry I have had 10 films to my credit. After another four years I produced eight films and out of the eight I directed four. From 2008 to 2010 I was marketing film. From 2010 till date I am marketing, producing and directing.
You are the Financial Secretary of the Arewa Film Makers Association of Nigeria. Can’t you, as an association, bring piracy to an end?
Before the creation of the Arewa Film Makers Association, we have taken several measures to stop piracy by creating committees and it has paid up to an extent. Later, it went extinct. At that time whenever a new film will be released, there was a committee that would go around the major markets to fish out pirates. The committee did a wonderful job. After the creation of Arewa Film Makers Association, the officials contributed N200, 000 without taxing the members. We used that money to checkmate piracy; and it is being addressed.
Now if the censorship board will partner with us to create committee that will have representatives from Arewa filmmakers, producers, marketers and police, we will checkmate piracy. For instance, in Kano we have 8,000 film halls, we can register them, and each time a new film will be released, we will collect 1,000 from them and give them the film to show. From these film halls alone in Kano, you can get like N8,000,000. Same can be replicated in the 19 northern states. 
With the challenge of piracy, among others, will you say Kannywood is lucrative?
You cannot compare Kannywood and the other film industries in the world. Here we are still battling with negative attitude towards our work, with some people branding them as sinful. Many people don’t want to be associated with Kannywood for this reason let alone investing in it. The government, companies and other rich people are not supporting the industry compared to, say, Bollywood, Hollywood, or even Nollywood. But in spite of that, I was able to build my own house, buy my own car, went on hajj and invested in different businesses. At our own level, therefore, it is lucrative. Now what remains for me is to be the most famous Hausa film director in the world. In the next few months I would be in Nollywood, and I would also want to leave my mark there.
Recently your film ‘Jarumin Maza’ was nominated at MTN Kannywood Award in three categories – Best Sound, Best Screenplay and Best Picture. Many cried foul. What is your take on that?
For me, even to be nominated for an award is an achievement in itself, because many films didn’t have that privilege. The MTN has promised to make it an annual event. If I don’t win this time I will win next time, it is not a big deal or do-or-die affair. I am happy that the MTN Telecommunication Company from South Africa recognizes Kannywood; it is an achievement and morale booster for us.
Can you tell us some of the popular films you either produced or directed?
Among those I produced are ‘Ragama’, ‘Samari’, ‘Mazan Fama’, ‘Daso Attajira’, ‘Attajirai’, ‘Kamfani’ etc. Those I directed include ‘Jalaluldeen’, ‘Jamilun Jidda’, ‘Ban Kashe Ta Ba’, ‘Khaleesat’, ‘Bakin  Alkalami’, ‘Jarumin Maza’, ‘Gaba-da-Gabanta’, and my next film is ‘Musharakatu’.
What is the story line of ‘Musharakatu’?
It is a story of an undergraduate young man who sees so many things anytime he sleeps – from the things that have happened, to the things that will happen. And by the time he wakes up, those things he saw in his sleep will begin to happen in real life. How will he stop seeing these things remain to be seen? There was a time when he was asleep, his girlfriend Musharakatu took him back to 300 years back. What is more interesting about the film is the creation of alien language by the writer Bashir Musa Liman, a journalist based in Abuja. The film is full of suspense, love, backstabbing and sacrifice.
Finally what you will want to add?
I am appealing to my colleagues to be God fearing in every aspect of life. We should also be united and have one voice. The reason I am saying this is that some of our colleagues are not co-operating with the Arewa Film Makers Association of Nigeria, they were saying it is a new association. What I want them to look at is, is the association worthy or worthless to the industry.
I also want the actors and actresses to be responsible; they should understand that they are the ambassadors of Hausa society. If they do well, people will say the Hausa are good, if they do otherwise, people will say as well. This is a general statement, not only for actors that appear on screen, though they are most affected. For instance, if I and Nazifi Asnanic should do something that is not good, it may escape the people’s attention because we are behind the camera, but if Ali Nuhu or Zainab Indomie or Adam Zango should do something that is not good, even by mistake, people will be circulating the news with joy in their faces and crucifying them. Therefore, let them be conscious of this and try to live above board.