The beautiful ones are being born in Nigeria!

Husayn Zagaru AbdulQadir is a Kannywood/Nollywood filmmaker, MD/CEO of the Kaduna media company, New Qamar Media Ltd and a recent recipient of the federal government YouWiN! Award to expand his company. His first feature-length film Dare Biyu, Yini Biyu premiered on 2 May at Silverbird Cinemas in Abuja.  He did an email interview with me […]

Husayn Zagaru AbdulQadir is a Kannywood/Nollywood filmmaker, MD/CEO of the Kaduna media company, New Qamar Media Ltd and a recent recipient of the federal government YouWiN! Award to expand his company. His first feature-length film Dare Biyu, Yini Biyu premiered on 2 May at Silverbird Cinemas in Abuja.  He did an email interview with me on 28 May 2013, which I will run for the next two weeks.
Husayn, could you tell me about yourself?
I was brought up in the suburbs of Kaduna metropolis. I attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, majoring in Geology and minoring in Media/Information Professional courses. I am currently running my Masters in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System at ABU Zaria.
Though I attended a science-based secondary school, I was actively engaged in producing and coordinating a weekly drama show in Literary/Drama Clubs. I produced and starred in Things Fall Apart, the Incorruptible Judge, A Man of Character, Macbeth, etc. Coming from a musical background, I learnt over time the art of playing the grand piano. I have also since gone into full time film and video production and editing to achieve my dream of becoming a film and video producer. I produced and directed a feature film titled Dare Biyu, Yini Biyu (Two Nights, Two Days.) 
I have also edited several clips for ads and series. I co-scripted and translated (Hausa to English) the script “Tun Ran Gini,” a Polio Campaign TV sitcom, supported by the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and UNICEF, partnering NTA, Kaduna and produced by GeesmWorld Ltd (2010). After co-founding the company New Qamar Media Limited in 2011, I have continued this sort of work on a larger scale. I see myself as ‘Entertainment Personified.’
What is your film Dare Biyu, Yini Biyu about?
Dare Biyu-Yini Biyu is my debut feature film and solely produced by our company New Qamar Media Limited. It is an action thriller feature film shot for the contemporary world.
Adnan is a member of a gang, who has kidnapped Nana, the daughter of a die-hard politician, Senator Salman. When a freelance journalist, Junaid, finds skeletons in Senator Salman’s cupboard and Adnan attempts to rescue Nana and to quit his gang, sparks begin to fly. While James Udoh (State CID) and his team keeps search for the girl and answers, Salman will stop at nothing in an effort to keep the motive hidden.
Could you tell me about the process of making the film? What inspired it?
Around March 2012, my business partner, Jamil Ango wrote the story. He was inspired by the daily decline and fall of our youths in terms of morality and bad leadership. We see these days how leaders make use of youths to gain selfish aims without providing a better welfare for them. So when he brought the story, we developed it into a script and a screenplay. Basically the movie encourages good and discourages bad acts. It unravels some of the current societal trends amongst youths and leaders. Youths will learn much from this film because it unveils the essence of being useful and meaningful in your community. It is said that, “If the citadel of justice is corrupt, what will happen to the body politics? It will completely rot and collapse!” So, the movie encourages the youths to be dutiful and avoid being used as tools of menace in the society.
I directed the movie, and I participated in all aspects of the moviemaking right from the script to the post production. We held a script workshop in November 2012 before going to location to shoot, where we invited seasoned filmmakers and media personnel to share the idea of the project. Some of the major stars in the movie include Sadiq S. Sadiq, Al-Amin Buhari, Abbas Sadiq, Hauwa Maina and many others like Hafsat Ibrahim, Rabi’u Koli, Tijanni Asase, Al-Amin Ciroma, Abubakar Shehu, Maina Yusuf, Mustapha Nabaraska, etc.
We shot the entire movie in Kaduna from December, 2012 to March 2013. Most of the scenes were exteriors, so we were mostly in the bush.
In the trailer, I noticed some impressive special effects like explosions. Were those real explosions or animation?
All the explosions were composited and not real. Actually, all the effects used in the movie were made and composited by me. I had earlier on mastered the use of some action elements and animation software such as Cinema 4D. It took me months to master the act. I think this should be first Nigerian movie where Cinema 4D was extensively used with realistic action elements. As you can see, some of the effects were so realistic. The bullet shot is my favourite scene, and that is why I made it as a prologue in the movie. The bullet was animated using Cinema 4D. It took me 3 weeks to achieve that. The car explosion scene was pretty difficult because I had to composite different action elements like dust, fire, smoke, using the software After Effects with After Shake. A lot of technical work was carried out in the making of the movie. We used a lot of green screen techniques in the scenes depicting the motion of cars and so on. It involves a lot of precision and patience. 
Animation will soon be part of the Nigerian film industry, but with dedication and hard work. It takes time and patience. I always look up to films like James Cameron’s Avatar and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. These are powerful stories that change the lives of people for the better, which are built on the fabric of animation. In this movie, we started the use of storyboard, which was developed by Mustapha Bulama (DesArt Studios, Kaduna). It was so interesting, and I hope we do more of this in our coming features.
I noticed that you subtitled the film in both English and French. How big of a market do Hausa films have in Francophone Africa?
Predominantly Hausa communities are scattered throughout West Africa.  The movie is in Ingausa, with English and Hausa dialogue, which we believe will appeal to so many audiences. I subtitled it in English, and the Hausa subtitle was done by Rabi’u Koli, a seasoned Kannywood producer and our Marketing Liaison Officer. I also did a special kind of subtitling called Chyron, where every move, picture and sound is explained. This helps even the deaf to understand the movie. We want to target the Francophone countries with the version that is subtitled in French. The French speaking countries love Hausa films, most especially from Nigeria. It is a thriving market.
You acted in, directed, and produced the film. How challenging was it to perform multiple roles?
It was a herculean task. Earlier on, I didn’t want to act in the movie, but since I couldn’t find anyone that will fit into that role, I had to take it up. It was fun and fulfilling. Abbas Sadiq assisted as Assistant Director. So, I was eased. The truth is that when you want to achieve the most extraordinary, then you will have to do some stunts. These stunts are like getting almost involved in every bit of your movie. That is what people like James Cameron do in their blockbusters. I was thrilled once I was watching one of the making of James Cameron’s Avatar. You won’t believe that he was among the stuntmen on set! A director, writer and producer…
To be continued next week….