The Learner

By  Muhsin Ibrahim & Habibu Ma’aruf muhsin2008@gmail.com As 2023 draws to a close, the closure of Kano Filmhouse Cinema is one of Kannywood’s most regrettable events in the outgoing year. Consequently, there was a significant decline in the number of cinematic releases. Nevertheless, amid this setback, a silver lining emerged as it spurred a notable shift towards series films, with prominent producers and directors venturing into the evolving market. From  Labarina ,  Alaqa , and  Manyan Mata  to  Fatake ,  Amaryar Tiktok  and  Gidan Sarauta , Kannywood’s audience has been captivated by numerous enthralling TV and web series. While the series market faces criticism for potentially fostering second-rate productions, the following list highlights the best seven series films aired in the year. Please note that the numbering is not hierarchical.  1. Labarina Labarina  stands out as a household name among Hausa film enthusiasts. Desp...

Social media and self-promotion: My experience By Muhsin Ibrahim I had a Facebook account before my current one . Fearing that the new social media (SM) platform was taking too much of my time away from other, more important pursuits, I deleted it. However, I returned. This 'new' account is almost 15 years old. To date, Facebook is my most cherished SM space, and some people I met there have impacted my life enormously. How does that happen? I won't claim sainthood - I have my sins and mistakes. However, I always try to better my best and project some of my best versions on SM . Even when I join controversial debates, I avoid insulting anyone. Writing can quickly expose you or land you into trouble; it can also fetch you fortune and fame or loss and infamy. So, please be sure to write carefully. Naples, 2022 In this age of the virtual world, knowing how to use SM effectively should be a part of our curriculum. For example, we had this conversation on self-promotion re...

Director :         Yaseen Auwal Producer :       Rahama Sadau & Sadiq Sani Sadiq Language :      Hausa Year :               2020 Company :      Sadau Pictures and Asmasan Pictures Cast:             Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Tahir I. Tahir, Rabi’u Rikadawa, Adam A. Zango, Rahama Sadau, Hadiza Blell, Umar Gombe, etc. So far, only very few successful titles in Kannywood have become franchises. Besides Adam A. Zango’s Basaja , I can only mention Yaseen Auwal’s Mati character. While the former deals with financial rickety in an urban, techno-scientific setting, the latter is a social drama in a rural setting in the past. The chronicle of Mati began with Wani Gari , then Mati da Lado and now Mati a Zazzau . If the filmmaker had foreseen where the ...

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...

By Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com University of Cologne The article was written for, and published by, the BBC Hausa service. Here is a link to a slightly different Hausa version published on their webpage:  Fina-finan Kannywood 10 da suka shahara a 2019. The Hausa film industry alias Kannywood is still alive and, well, kicking. Perhaps known to many people, the industry’s survival is against many odds. Now and again, Kannywood is caught up in scandals. Prominent among them this year include the way politics divided it and brought sharp disunity among its members. Then, two leading actresses fought and the clip of the fight went viral; the arrest of a celebrated director, the sartorial choice of two more actresses invited them condemnations, insults and curses, among other incidents.   Copyright: @officialkannywood Admittedly, I did not watch some films that might be among the top 10 of 2019. I don’t live in Nigeria to go to the only functi...

By Muhsin Ibrahim The article was written for, and published by, the BBC Hausa service. Here is a link to a slightly different Hausa version published on their webpage:   Fina-finan Kannywood 10 da suka shahara a 2018 Kannywood film industry survives yet another year. Not only that, it prospers and produces films of various genres, chiefly comedy, romance and, scarcely, epic. They include Adam Zango’s offensively funny flick, Dan Kuka a Birni ; Ali Nuhu’s remake of his 2000 hit musical, Mujadala , among others. Kabiru Jammaje, the force behind the reincarnation of English language branch of Kannywood also sponsored another posh royal tale titled In Search of the King . Nafisa Abdullahi’s much-publicised movie, Yaki a Soyayya also seems promising. Thus, the year is well spent. The following movies were adjudged to be the best of the eventful year, which is, more or less, overshadowed by the build-up to Nigeria’s general election early next year. The politics forays i...

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com  @muhsin234 After exchanging greetings, one boy of about 17 to 19-year-old asked me: “You are Mal. Mubarak’s younger brother, huh?” I answered in the affirmative. “Greet him for me”. I said okay and called it a day. Unbeknownst to me, that was only the beginning; he asked me time and again to deliver the same message until one day I got it all enough and warned him off it. The lad is my brother’s student in a college, as he told me. He likely meets with him every day, while I have not seen him for over a year as I have been outside Nigeria since June 2013. Whatever, he doesn’t care; I am his friend on Facebook and the younger (and  junior ) brother of his fave lecturer, hence the right person for his ‘delivery services’. Many others will request you to be friends and then, upon acceptance, leave you a thankful message either on your timeline or inbox. Forget the mostly disquieting English used for the message; I ...

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim Bayero University, Kano muhsin2008@gmail.com A few other selected students in my college and I were, for the first time, introduced to the Internet as a reward for acing exams of the previous term in 2003. It was a thrilling experience for all of us. I joined Facebook 2 or 3 years after in 2005/2006 when it w as still in its childhood . I had just started tertiary studies then. That was a particular point in my life; I longed so much for education, to learn the English language and to interact with intellectuals. The few popular social networking webs then were Yahoo! Messenger, Meebo , and hi5 . The latter was more a hit, so I patronised it above the rest. Not long after, the star of Facebook shined up, and many people migrated to the latest vogue. I followed the bandwagon. However, I deactivated my Facebook account after a while for mainly two reasons. First, it was steadily withering my commitment to my favourite sites, which I faithfully fanc...

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com muhsin234 (Twitter) On many occasions, Nigerians stand out among their fellow Africans. “Giant of Africa” is the enviable, debatable title of Nigeria due to its biggest population and economy on the continent, inter alia. It also used to have the mightiest military, for their numerous accomplished peacekeeping missions in other African countries like Liberia , Sudan , and Serra Leon . The Nigeria ’s military is no longer, however, regarded as such, as they have yet to combat and contain the insurgency of the Islamists called Boko Haram within the country since 2009 and for the violation of civilian rights in other instances. Nigeria is arguably roughly divided along religious lines. The North is predominantly Muslim, while the South is largely Christian. There are over 200 distinct languages, but only three (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo) are considered major. So, Nigeria is a country of plurality and complexities, if you will, sh...

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 (Twitter) Sunday, 01 st June 2014, marks my maiden wedding anniversary. Unlike today, I was filled with happiness beyond expressing this day, last year. I was all the more excited that we were, pragmatically speaking, honeymooning outside Nigeria, starting in Cairo, where we would have an eighteen-hour transit, and India, where we still are, essentially though for studies. My euphoria was, nonetheless, shattered by two fears since we were airborne:  first, India was often described in the news as religiously a volatile country; and second, as being ‘infested’ with lusty rapists. I am Muslim and coming with a newly wed wife! Though after spending almost a year now, I discovered that although the religious schism of course exists and the rapists rather ravage, some stories are untrue, or just being exaggerated.  Yet, I was spirited in another way, for I was ‘escaping’ from the wrath of the infamous, dreaded Boko Haram (BH) unthin...

Director :         Aminu Saira Producer :       Mukhtar Young Boy Language :      Hausa Year :               2014 Company :      Kabugawa Production, Kano Background Only a few of the Kannywood productions, especially in these days, attract the attention of the audience and a fewer are awaited before their release. Sabuwar Sangaya scored both credits. This is however apparently connected to its title affinity with the famous film with a similar title: Sangaya, and whose song of the same name became a landmark success for both the Hausa filmmakers and the film-making industry. The ‘old’ Sangaya was produced by the recently revived studio, Sarauniya Production and directed by Aminu Muhammad Sabo, an erstwhile leading figure in Kannywood. But does this ‘new’ Sangaya satiate the thirst of the audience...