The Learner

Gidan Badamasi : A Short Review of the Hausa Sitcom   Premiered in 2019, the defining criterion for the popular sitcom, Gidan Badamasi , is comedy. However, it tells much more such as several socio-moral lessons. That is not a surprise as Kannywood, the film industry whose members wrote, produced, directed and acted in Gidan Badamasi , are known for promoting such causes. An oft-repeated raison dêtre of Kannywood, some of its members argue, is to teach morality, promote Hausa culture and Islam, among other related goals. Whether or not they do that is debatable and, of course, outside the scope of this short review. The title, Gidan Badamasi [ Badamasi’s House ], implies where the drama takes place – the house of Alhaji Badamasi. He is a wealthy, wheelchair-bound businessman who had multiple marriages from which he got several children. As he ages, becomes more frail and sickly, he asks most of them – he doesn’t know all of them – to come for a crucial meeting. After their ar...

For about three decades, cinemagoers, especially in the northern parts of Nigeria, are familiar with Hausa Film Industry popularly known as Kannywood. Though there has been debate on a different genre of movies by section of producers and directors that say 70% of Kannywood filmmakers go for romantic melodrama and musical extravaganza while the rest of the percentage has comedy, action and epic storyline. Be it as it may, the giant industry lacks fantasy movies in its library. Falalu A Dorayi, undoubtedly one of the few directors who believe in game-changing and twisting story background to please his followers and fans, who established himself as a successful filmmaker in the history of Kannywood has finally come with a sensational fantasy flick entitled Karamin Sani . Karamin Sani , an upcoming movie set to hit screens on Friday, 17 January 2020, in Filmhouse Cinema Kano and KFA Cinemas Kaduna simultaneously, was produced by S & B Production and directed by the versa...

Director :         Falalu A. Dorayi Producer :       Isah A. Isah Language :       Hausa Year :               2018 Company :      TJ Multipurpose Concept Cast:              Isah A. Isah, Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Abba El-Mustapha, Amude Booth, Maryam CTV, Maryam Gidado, etc. At the time when most Kannywood films are either an overblown rehash of the industry's previous or impoverished replication of Indian movies, comes a determined film with a squarely original story from the same industry entitled Uwata ce . The film shows  quite  an extraordinary, scandalous saga between a mother and her grown-up children. Hajiya (Maryam CTV) is an older widow with two sons and two daughters all of whom are married, leaving her together with her stepson, a 22-year-old Salim...

By Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com University of Cologne The Hausa version of this article, with a slight difference, was published on the BBC Hausa  website. According to numerous accounts and lived experiences, rivalry is natural among both humans and animals. It is barely, if at all, avoidable especially between contemporaries. It becomes more probable when one of the lots becomes way more successful than the rest. Mr A may begin to envy Mr B and question why he is luckier or more much-admired than I. In response, Mr B may start feeling pompous, declaring to all that he is ahead of Mr A. Therefore his accolades and achievement are due to his hard work and talent. Again, the people around the two are sometimes yet another cause of the enmity. For one reason or another, they do all it takes to plant a seed of dissonance as they profit by getting favour from either person. There are more causes for strife, but I guess these are very typical. In Kannywood, th...