The Learner

Production Company: Maishadda Global Resources Nig. Ltd Producer: Abubakar Bashir Maishadda Director: Ali Nuhu Release: 2019 Cast: Ali Nuhu, Abba El-Mustapha, Baballe Hayatu, Hassana Muhammad, Hadiza Gabon, Hajara Usman , etc. The eponymous movie Hauwa Kulu is a masterpiece, one of the best films to come out of the Hausa film industry, aka Kannywood. It is a tragic, melodramatic social drama that addresses the issue of rape, which is a boiling issue in our society today. It is also a film that has attracted critical attention, especially from ‘feminists’, NGOs, other critics for its dramatic exposé of the complex politics involved in rape cases and its possible impact on the Nigerian cinema. The extraordinary plot, which is the driving force of this movie, narrates the story of a beautiful village girl, Hauwa Kulu (Hassana Muhammad), whose blind father (Abba El-Mustapha) wanted her to be well educated.   He later decided to marry her off to avoid the p...

Production: Kumo Productions. Producer: Yakubu M. Kumo Director: Ali Gumzak Release Year: 2019 Cast: Sadiƙ Sani Sadiƙ, Hafsat Idrees, Ali Nuhu, Shehu Hassan Kano, Alhassan Ƙwalle and others. As several northern Nigerian societies cry of pressing marital problems, an Ali Gumzak-directed film, Namijin Kishi arrives with an exaggerated elucidation of such a marriage. It exposes one of the countless causes of marital disputes. Gumzak's signature is all over it: direct and straight to the point rendition, keeping watchers focused and on the same page. Quite usual of this director, the film’s plot was uninterrupted by the often mundane Indian filmic romance, singing and dancing routine found in many Kannywood movies. Additionally, the background soundtrack accentuates the viscosity of the movie scenes. Individually, the character-performance in Namijin Kishi is excellent, more especially by the leading actor, Sadiƙ Sani Sadiƙ, who effortlessly delivered his assignm...

Production :    Maishadda Investment Ltd. Producer:        Abubakar Bashir Maishadda Director :         Ali Nuhu Year:               2019 Cast :         Umar M. Shareef, Hassana Muhammad, Maryam Yahaya, Ali Nuhu, Yakubu Muhammad, Jamila Nagudu and others. Like most, nay all, films titled after a central character, HAFEEZ revolves around the life of a spoilt adult (acted by Umar M. Shareef). Also, the film has the mark of its “Wizkid” director, Ali Nuhu, all over, for it is apparently modelled after a boy-meets-girl, rich-boy vs poor-girl Bollywood paradigms. Moreover, it bears many more Indian filmic signatures such as five or six spectacular song and dance routines, among others. Perhaps the recent warning  by the MOPPAN President, Kabiru Maikaba, on banning romance film in Kannywood came out ...

Kwana Casa’in : A Short Review If posh locations, number of cast and crew members, sophisticated camera, etc. are enough indicators for the budget size of a production, then Kwana Casa’in [90 Days], produced by Arewa 24 channel, is doubtlessly an expensive soap opera. Directed by Salisu T. Balarabe, the drama is arguably the best of its kind in the Hausa language. Being funded by foreign, non-profit, non-political bodies, including the MacArthur Foundation, Kwana Casa’in stands out as a socio-political critique of our people and governments. It unmistakably aims to provoke reflection and introspection and to spark conversation and action within and outside the corridors of power. Is it able to achieve that? Set in a fictional town called Alfawa, the drama begins at the peak of governorship electioneering. The current governor, Bawa Maikada (acted by Sani Mu’azu), is highly corrupt and desperate to win re-election in spite of doing very little for the people. The health sec...

Director :         Ali Gumzak Producer :       Sani Mai Iyali Story:              Ibrahim Birniwa Year :               2018 Company :      Famli Investment Ltd. Cast :               Maryam Gidado, Ali Nuhu, Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Nuhu Abdullahi, Lawan Ahmad, Isah Feruzkhan, others. A couple of days ago, a UN report showed that men outnumber women in Nigeria. Several people, especially on social media, disputed the data, saying that women are way more than men. True or not, Ali Gumzak-directed film, Tangaran seems to have slightly corroborated the claim as three guys jostle to tie the knot with a beautiful damsel while she chases two others. Although not a focus of this review, this portrayal is arguably not the...

Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com My book, Kannywood: Unveiling the Overlooked Hausa Film Industry , released early this week, was purposely titled so. For some socio-cultural and religious related reasons, many people that would ideally care about the embattled film industry snub it. Thus, Kannywood survives mainly in obscurity. Conversely, the recent scandals involving the famous actress, Hadiza Gabon and her colleague, Amina Amal over lesbianism allegation proved me slightly wrong. Moreover, as this rages on, the age-old feud between the ace actors, Ali Nuhu and Adam Zango  was taken to the next level. The former sued the latter for defamation and assassination of character. These topics dominate the northern Nigerian cyberspace all the more. Is Kannywood really “overlooked”? It’s indisputably true that the film industry and its members are ignored but, I believe, whenever they do ‘good’ or shun controversies and scandals. Once their scandals surface, everyone’...

Following the publication of my book, Kannywood: Unveiling the Overlooked Hausa Film Industry , a reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Anita Eboigbe interviewed me. Excerpt of the interview was then carried out by several news outlets in Nigeria. Here is the full version: 1. Do you think the relegation of Kannywood has anything to do with the social, political and tribal sentiments in Nigeria? And why?  I think the sentiments you mentioned play a role, but they are not to blame squarely. First, there is a widespread belief that Hausa people are less educated compared to other (southern) ethnic groups in Nigeria. Therefore, many people think, wrongly though, that nothing good – such as their films - may come out from them. The fact that Kannywood’s movies are 95 or more per cent in Hausa makes this belief all the more plausible. I have read and heard several people, especially on social media and conferences, arguing that the Hausa folks cannot make films in Eng...