By Abubakar Sulaiman Muhd
Muhsin Ibrahim, a faculty member at the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts, Bayero University Kano had me thrilled with old Hausa film and serial titles in his recent article on Kannywood film industry. He mentioned erstwhile flicks such as Gimbiya Fatima, Simbiqa, Gagare, and Hana Wani Hana Kai, Hadarin Qasa, serials. Graphic childhood memories hilariously resurrected and filled me with delight.
Those are the innocent memories I hope never to forget.
We were kids then when we watched those movies. Our family was one of the few that had the privilege of black-and-white television set. It was very exciting watching those films in the family with all the squealing children shouting and laughing about. The joy would snap off. Mother would come by around two o’clock and send us to Islamiyya,
school. We hated that like our death.
The memories kept reverberating in me until halfway through the reading when ugly pictures of how things degenerated began to surface. I realized that watching contemporary Hausa movies now amidst mixed crowd of parents and children is a gamble bound to end in disaster. Older people would flush and younger ones would squirm from embarrassment as soon as the movie begins. Today, the films are full of indecent activities, alien practices and the attempts to pass them off as Hausa culture which many associate to the non-Hausa natives in the Industry. This creates cultural confusion and hybridity. It could also be seen as immoral if we insist, like in written literature, to draw a line between Islamic and secular arts.
Even though no one will like to see their culture being corrupted and dangerously, wildly cast in a negative light that feeds falsehood to the world. But this seems favourable to the culture and explains the pace at which both culture and the Industry are fast expanding and attracting people from across ethnic diversities.
However, the un-Islamic activities and the display of nudity and vulgar language have to do with the global culture influx, which are actually there in the society but considered too earthy and rude to the local sensibilities. In Kano, like in most northern states of Nigeria, culture and religion are oftentimes sensitive and scandalous topics. Yet, it will be a great disservice to our heritages if the filmmakers continue to distort our culture even when we choose to separate culture and religion.
The disturbing fact is that the filmmakers seem to be severely incapable of producing films that concern serious human conditions driven by local experiences. They tend to believe wilfully that they can’t make it without bringing in lewdness, vulgarity and thinly implied bed scenes in their films. The Industry continues to rely on others to draw inspiration while they live in a world of stories in search of writers. More disturbing is the shameless occasional borrowings from their Nollywood counterparts which has never been the case the other way round. Creativity and originality matter tremendously in the arts.
Arts, and of course, films production, are the mirror image of the society. But there seems to be so much outrageous shots that will puzzle eagled-eyed viewers, experts and historians of Hausa culture.
It will make them wonder whether or not what they are watching in films is really Hausa. Like the shock that will hit you on seeing a fully-grownup Hausa woman in the downtown streets of Kano without head-covering, half exposed cleavage and all. This, despite the clamour of the so-called Censorship Board of Kano state, is doubtlessly the new trend as Muhsin rightly observed. There are more than several instances in numerous films one can cite. He has already given ample of that.
There is the need for the films to approximate reality. The reality could be of incidents of the past, present or the possible future. Their audience would warmly welcome films on the lives of legendary figures in Hausaland such as Malam Aminu Kano, etc the same way Bollywood did biopic of Mahatma Gandhi; Hollywood’s biopic on Martin Luther King Jr., etc.
When we talk about debauchery, the audience too contributes in no small ways. Young people like to watch films that expose nudity to satisfy their voyeurism. The skimpy dress I think is what has become a popular culture in the large segment of Hausa female youth demographics. The Industry is merely taking advantage of the situation to keep afloat. What is in contention is whether it is the Industry that draws from the society or the public that draws from the Industry. Away with the double-stand, audience should insist on watching decent films that truly depict Hausa culture.
However, critical stakeholders who refuse to actively participate cannot just get away when they left the young men and women in the Industry to their own devices to struggle with cumbersome technical and logistical challenges. The Censorship Board should not only be a gate-keeping or revenues-generating avenue. The Board should commit itself in capacity-building workshops and financing programs. It should as well initiate programs that will promote and applaud any film and its crew that attained certain standards. It can also facilitate partnership between the Industry and the rest of the world of films communities including NGOs’ involvement in financing and mentoring. I was, as were many people, disappointed by the Board’s response to Muhsin’s article written by one Mu’azu Jibrin. It does not address any issue he raised.
The Board should, in addition to the aforesaid, appreciate his concern tackle the issues highlighted in his topical article. It is in fact a very common knowledge that Kannywood lacks skilled manpower and has since been a haven of mediocrity, arid land of resources and source financing, etc. This is more glaring in the shoddy subtitles rife with cringe-worthy falls in basic grammar laced with mangled and confused sentences; amateur actors gleefully glancing at camera, poorly and lazy editing process, inappropriate costume, unskilled directors and financially-tight producers forcing contrived and incomplete plots.
Guys in the Industry can help themselves by pursuing some professional courses and set minimum requirements for new entrants in aspects of acting, directing and other critically relevant fields. Individuals should stick to their brief to polish professionalism and to achieve enhanced efficiency.
But the Industry guys should not resign to despair. The directors should begin to ask (read: command) their actresses to cover that upper part of their body. It’s this simple. Likewise, the technical glitches aren’t exclusive to them alone. For instance, Homeland, a movie by some western TV producers with some few scenes shot in Berlin did not escape some goofs. There are many others in this category. Special ‘awards’ are annually given to worst movies of the year.
A little commitment would make things better. Save for the film-makers’ doggedness towards constructive criticisms and experts advice, and the Board’s denial that it is executing its duties in the right way. No one knows it; no one does it perfectly. Thus, accept correction, improve what you do and make name and profit, too.
Muhd is a student of ABU, Zaria and can be reached at [email protected]
