Why I started indigenous film fest – Abdulkareem Muhammed

Abdulkareem Mohammed is the Managing Director of Moving Image Limited, Kano and the brain behind the Kano Indigenous Languages Films Market and Festival (KILAF). Mohammed spoke on his Kannywood journey and instituting the film festival.   Weekend Magazine: What motivated you to start KILAF? Abdulkareem Mohammed: Actually, it was my dream from 1982 when I […]

Abdulkareem Mohammed is the Managing Director of Moving Image Limited, Kano and the brain behind the Kano Indigenous Languages Films Market and Festival (KILAF). Mohammed spoke on his Kannywood journey and instituting the film festival.

 

Weekend Magazine: What motivated you to start KILAF?

Abdulkareem Mohammed: Actually, it was my dream from 1982 when I was doing my attachment with KPOP channel 13, Los Angeles. It happened that one of the governors in Nigeria at that time Chief Jim Nwobodo invited Senator Dyane Waxon to Nigeria. She is a black American who had never being out of America prior to this trip. 

She was overwhelmed by her trip and Nwobodo had it videotaped for her. She took travelled back with the tape and invited her friends and relatives to watch her visit to Nigeria. Unfortunately, the tape did not play because we used pal system in recording it while in America they were using NTLC system. My then executive producer, Marilyn Solomon, who was a friend of Waxon narrated the challenge to me.  Fortunately the station had the capacity to transfer the signal for her from pal to NTLC so that she could watch.

Subsequently, I was introduced to her and that introduction was a turning point in my life. It gave birth to what I am now trying to achieve. Waxon incorporated me into her campaign team and always made me speak on how we respect our elders in Nigeria because it was the most overwhelming thing she experienced during her visit. She had never imagined that there was this country on earth with 100 percent black people. 

Through the process I was able to understand that the worst thing that could happen to an individual, is to have a culture and lose it. I have come to appreciate the problem of African Americans for the gap that exists between who they are and who they were.

I realized that we needed a platform to foster and nurture our own language medium films and also to carry out effective campaigns to telling our own stories because it is only by being original that we can ride on the platform of globalization. Since we have Kannywood from Hausa Language, then let there be a platform for Africa to come and ride it so that we can encourage other people in different languages from the continent to showcase their films in Kano at the same time open a marketing platform that people can exhibit the films that’s what KILAF is all about.

WM: How do you hope to source funding for this gigantic project?

Mohammed: Your question is very relevant to what I have set out to do because I do not believe that if you have the capacity to start up something you should wait until the money comes. To be honest with you I don’t have the resources, but I have said to myself that my limitations shall always be my imaginations. This is a big dream, and I understand that. For me to start it up I don’t need any assistance. But if I set it up to hit the ground I strongly feel that there are people and agencies that can key into this and make it happen.

WM: Is this a one man show or you will be involving other industry players?

Mohammed: Not really. We hope the Federal Government will come on board because it has the responsibility to support this kind of project. We also hope to engage the Kano State government because we have envisioned that we are going to attract at least 5,000 people to this state and if on average each person spends $1,000, you know what that is going to do to Kano economy.

WM: What is the biggest challenge with organising such a festival?

Mohammed: As I have said earlier, there are challenges being the first of its kind. However, most of these challenges are apparent and the most challenging is that of funding. We have already set October 23rd to 27th, 2018 for the festival to happen and it is through this that we are driving a full team that would be able to package the festival and solicit for sponsorship. 

WM: Globally, where is Hausa culture and what do you want to promote through this initiative?

Mohammed: You see the issue is beyond that of Hausa that is why it is indigenous African film market festival. But Hausa is providing the platform because the festival is going to be domiciled in Hausaland and the culture and people of Hausa land will be the host of the market. But they will welcome films from other languages of the continent as well so it is beyond Hausa language. 

WM: How far has the preparation gone for this festival?

Mohammed: Well right now we have instituted six local organizing committees. They have respective responsibilities to discharge towards making this possible. For example, we have a team that is headed by the current president of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Alhaji Mukhtar Siraj, for branding fund raising events

We also have the education and special event committee because we intend to do a workshop with paper presentation on the theme ‘Contextualizing African Indigenous Language Film: the past, the present and the future.’ Based on the papers, we will package them into a book that can serve in the intellectual circuit. We have series of activities that would definitely make the festival a worthwhile event.

WM: What categories of awards do you hope to present during the festival?

Mohammed: We have three categories that were earmarked for not only trophies or certificates of participation but also prizes and we are going to give out these prizes in dollars. Best feature film will go home with $13, 500, the best shot film $7, 500, while the best documentary film will go home with $3, 500 and then we have other categories of prizes that we are going to give.

WM: What efforts did you make to create awareness about this project beyond Nigeria?

Mohammed: We have created a website and we have since started campaigning through there for participation. In Lagos we met with a cross section of Yoruba filmmakers and sensitised them about the initiative. We will do same for Kannywood. The British Council offered us a slot to train our festival directors. Our judges are international – a Kenyan, Egyptian, Chadian and two Nigerians.