Meet Safna Aliyu Moru, Kannywood’s youngest female producer

Safna Aliyu Moru is said to be the youngest female Hausa movie producer.  At 25, the Kano-born actress cum producer has proven her mettle a few years after venturing into the industry. She has successfully featured in several movies and in this interview, the actress talks about her career and more. Who is Safna Aliyu? […]

Safna Aliyu Moru is said to be the youngest female Hausa movie producer.  At 25, the Kano-born actress cum producer has proven her mettle a few years after venturing into the industry. She has successfully featured in several movies and in this interview, the actress talks about her career and more.

Who is Safna Aliyu?
Actually my father is from Moru in Zamfara State and my mother is from Kano State. I was born in Kano State 25 years ago and I did all my conventional studies in Kano. Unfortunately, I got married at the age of 14 but it didn’t work out fine. The marriage crashed few months into it, an experience I wouldn’t want to discuss here. After that, I went back to school where I finished my secondary school in 2014. Even though I did not proceed, I still have the zeal to study further.
I am a determined person. After my graduation from secondary school and my failed marriage behind me, I figured out that the best way for me is to start doing something to sustain myself. That was how I ventured into buying and selling handbags, shoes, perfumes and a lot of other items related to women.
It was in the course of my business engagements, I became an actress and within a short period I realized that the movie industry has a lot to offer young entrepreneurs like me. Therefore I quickly grabbed the opportunity and stared producing movies alongside acting. I have featured in more than 20 movies such as ‘Yan Mata’, ‘Daren Zalunci’, ‘Yan Boarding’, ‘Fuska Biyu’, ‘Zangina’ among many others. However, I have recently released a movie I produced titled ‘Fuska Biyu’ into the market and I was told the movie is doing well. Presently, I have concluded all arrangements to commence shooting of my second movie soon.
What else, apart from making movies do you do?
As I told you earlier, I am into business and I am, still. Without a career in movies I would still be a business woman. It is apparent, getting involved in the movies is also another form of widening one’s horizon.
Neverthless, I still have the passion to further my education. This has been my dream and soon I will get enrolled in one of the tertiary institutions to pursue my education. As I have said earlier, I stopped at secondary school level and I believe I still need to go back to school.
How would you describe life in the movie industry?
The Hausa movie industry is like one big family where everyone plays a role in making life easier for the other. When I came to the industry I was accepted and an opportunity was given to me.
The industry is such a place that opportunities are for all to grab and utilize. No one cares where you come from. Just adhere to the rules and regulations and you are good to go. There are a lot of people from different ethnic groups in the industry and they are doing fine.
What should your fans expect in this new movie of yours?
I do not want to blow my own trumpet, but I believe the movie is going to be with unique approaches that will make it different from the others. The story line was written by one of the industry’s finest writers and I have a huge budget for it. I also have a cast that has proven themselves worthy of being in the movie business. My new movie ‘Wata Rana’, is hoped to be a gate opener to the industry’s future development and I strongly believe that it will.
My fans should expect professionalism, innovative approaches, accuracy and conformity to our norms and values in this movie. In a nutshell, my fans should expect a total entertainment package in the movie ‘Wata Rana.’
It was rumoured that someone other than you owns the copyright to the title of ‘Wata Rana’. Is that true?
Yes it is. What happened was that after I got my story written and a name had been given to it, that was when someone told me that a movie with a similar name was once being produced and that was 16 years ago. I started looking for avenues to change the name, but changing the name means altering a lot out of the main story. Therefore, I went researching for an alternative and that was when I got the information that a copy right to a movie name expires after 10 years. Now, my movie bears ‘Wata Rana’ and there are no strings attached to that.
I have a cast with stars like Adam A. Zango, Rahma Sadau and myself among other prominent artistes. For now I have set aside N2 million for the take-off of the movie. I believe having a name that was heard before won’t affect the movie’s chances. Just wait and see.