𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 #𝟭: 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲

Prof Abdallah Uba Adamu

Say what you can, but Kano has always been innovative. I am currently revising a book on the history of Hausa cinema for a publisher in the United States, so I want to share a few morsels of information that might be interest, and also give depth to the history of Hausa cinema in the light of the current (November 2023) real-life drama that is playing out in the industry.

What is known as Kannywood has an original name “Finafinan Hausa”. It professionally started in 1990, but amateurishly in 1980 when it was kickstarted by Sani Lamma and Hamisu Gurgu of Kano (more of them in subsequent postings). In 1990 it was the brain child of late Aminu Hassan Yakasai, supported by Aminu Hassan Yakasai, Ali “Kallamu” Muhammad Yakasai, Bashir Mudi Yakasai, and Tijjani Ibraheem. Their first film, 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗮, released in March 1990, was directed by Salisu Galadanci. This was the beginning of what is now known as Kannywood.

The halcyon Hausa cinema days were days of joy, fame and stardom. Two storylines dominated the films. The first focused on domestic ecology of Hausa marriages. This was led by Hamisu Iyantama group of Bohemian writers, including Ahmad Salihu Alkanawy, Khalid Musa, Bala Anas Babinlata, ruled the roost. Iyantama led the group – an easy thing for him to do since he remains the most innovative, experimental and charismatic filmmaker in the history of Kannywood. The first filmmaker to shoot inside the Supreme Court. A second layer of storylines was led by Ɗan Azumi Baba Cheɗiyar Ƴan Gurasa, dealing with urban sociology. No singing. No dancing. Just solid storyline that talks to you and your environment.

Media coverage of the new entertainment was covered by basically fanzines, that later became magazines, giving tidbits of the film industry. No one was making much money, but what they lack in money, they made up in instant recognition wherever they go. They were feted and sought as simple socialites. No airs and graces.

The transformation came in 1999. First, a magazine, Tauraruwa, founded by Sunusi Shehu Burhan, a writer, started a column he called ‘𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 – making him the first person to create the term. This was a revolutionary moment in African media history. It was the first time an film industry was collectively named. Kannywood was not meant to imitate Hollywood in film ethics. Indeed, it was more like Bollywood, because the magazine, Tauraruwa, cloned an Indian film magazine called Stardust.

The name was almost talismanic – it was certainly an auspicious beginning of the film industry. Unfortunately, it also paved the way to its future. In October 1999, Sarauniya films released Sangaya. It was undoubtedly the most iconic film of its period, and for the fourteen years, it opened the floodgates of Indian cloning of choreographed singing and dancing. This was radical departure from the more sober films of the 1990s. Arewa24, a Satellite TV with heavy dosage of TV Shows delivered in Series changed the landscape of Hausa cinema when it debuted in 2014. While the Series had a suspiciously ZeeWorld veneer, the storylines harked back at the pre-Sangaya narrative – thus making them less objectionable.

So, in 1990 Tumbin Giwa Drama group in Kano released Turming Danya. There was no video film industry as we know it then. Ola Balogun, Jab Adu, Moses Olayia, Eddie Ugboma and Hubert Ogunde were pioneering celluloid filmmakers. The southern Nigerian video film industry was born in 1992 with Living in Bondage. The term Kannywood was coined in 1999. No other film industry in Africa had any name. In 2002 Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times coined ‘Nollywood to reflect the southern Nigerian video film industry.

Enjoy the scan of the first media mention of Kannywood in Hausa film industry.

“𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗼, 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲”