• 19 Sep, 2012
• Nura Abubakar
• No comment

KANNYWOOD OF ALL ‘WOODS’

KANNYWOOD OF ALL ‘WOODS’
BY: NURA ABUBAKAR
TWITTER @Noorer

It’s so understanding that when it comes to the issue of movies and celebrities in the world the first thing to clock in your mind is Hollywood followed by Bollywood and of course Nigeria’s giants Nollywood and Kannywood for Africans and some part of the world.

Hollywood covered a couple of centuries of film making likewise Indian Bollywood. But history has it that first Nollywood movie LIVING IN BONDAGE was produced in 1994, while TURMIN DANYA as a first Kannywood was produced in March 15th 1990 by Ibrahim Mandawari under the umbrella if Tumbin Giwa Drama Club. If I may ask what is the differences as well as the similarities between the first and the last two “woods”? The differences are clear, the former covered centuries in the showbiz while the later were no more in last thirty years.

Let me restrict my self to the two ‘infants’ showbiz industries i.e Nollywood and Kannywood. Today, arguably Nollywood is the third largest industry in the world behind Hollywood and Bollywood. But if you look at its history of first production Kannywood predates it. Why do you think Nollywood is the third not Kannywood? Is it because they speak English? Is it because they have more professionals than Kannywood? Is it because they are politically, economically, socially and technologically better than Kannywood?
Well, to me these are the most difficult questions with the simplest answers in the world. For the first two questions I can say media and language play a vital role in making Nollywood the third largest in the world. The reason is, both the prints and electronics medias products are primarily in English, so the Nollywood has more advantage over Kannywood here. Again English is not only the official language in Nigeria but a global language and you know what it means. Remember, less than fifty million people speak Hausa all over the world and how many millions or billions speak English, I do not know! Looking at the professionals involved in Kannywood we can’t say they don’t have because they do, but not as many as in Nollywood. Thank God now Kannywood have so many people who study filming and other technicalities in film makinga, their work has shown that though Kannywood still need capacity building.

Today, politics play a vital role in every aspect of human life and film making is not an exception here. For a Kannywood to reach some level it must be supported politically. Some years back filming had been “banned” in kano for some reasons by the previous government. Special thanks goes to the current governor of Kano State Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for the recall and his tireless support. This is exactly what Kannywood needs, political, financial and social support. Government should come fully into this industry, it is and will be beneficial for both parties.

Kannywood creates thousands of jobs to youth yearly, once government is in, it can be more than that. This is why Nollywood is ahead of Kannywood, they have investors, people invest in it, they have been backed fully by government, so many film institutes have been established over there, in fact foreign investors are all over the industry.

In conclusion, Kannywood has all the talents, they have a lot of stories that are yet to be exploit, the location and anything you can think of. All they need now is capacity building because the format of their movie making is more or less similar to that of soap operas, perhaps they should LEARN & ADOPT the actual film techniques and that can only be done when the government as well as investors come in by making things formal, create more institution and film villages for the up coming artist. This would help many to put meals on their tables therefore a means of livelihood.

THANKS FOR READING.