Hausa-language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a membe ...

cinema, known informally as Kannywood, is the

film industry of Northern Nigeria. It is based in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

Kannywood

Kannywood is the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

for Hausa-language cinema. It is a part of the larger

Nigerian cinema The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood, consists of films produced in Nigeria; its history dates back to as early as the late 19th century and into the colonial era in the early 20th century. The history and develo ...

, known as

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

, which includes other production centres producing films in many other Nigerian languages. The name "Kannywood" is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsKano and Hollywood, the center of the

American film industry The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

. "Kannywood" has origins in the late 1990s, when Sunusi Shehu of ''Tauraruwa Magazine'' created the term Kannywood and then it became the popular reference term for the industry in the Northern Nigeria. The term "Kannywood" was coined in 1999, three years before the term

came about.

History

The Hausa language cinema slowly evolved from the productions of RTV Kaduna and Radio Kaduna in the 1960s. Veterans like Dalhatu Bawa and Kasimu Yero pioneered drama productions that became popular with the Northern audience. In the 70's and 80's,

Usman Baba Pategi Usman Baba Pategi, known mostly as ''Samanja'' Mazan Fama (born 20 May, 1942) is a retired Nigerian Army. Together with Yusuf Ladan, Mamman Ladan and Idi Jibril an NTA staff introduced the Hausa comedy known now as Kannywood, Northern Nigerian ...

and Mamman Ladan introduced the Hausa Comedy to the Northern audience.

1990s: Bollywood influence

The 1990s saw a dramatic change in the Hausa language cinema, eager to attract more Hausa audience who find Bollywood movies more attractive, Kannywood; a cinematic synthesis of Indian and Hausa culture evolved and became extremely popular. ''Turmin Danya'' ("The Draw"), 1990, is usually cited as the first commercially successful Kannywood film. It was quickly followed by others like ''Gimbiya Fatima'' In Da So Da Kauna, Munkar, Badakala and ''Kiyarda Da Ni''. New actors like Ibrahim Mandawari and Hauwa Ali Dodo became popular and set the stage for the emergence of super-star like female actresses later on.

2000s Kannywood

By 2012, over 2000 film companies were registered with the Kano State Filmmakers Association. A local censoring committee created by Kanywood Producers and Marketers was converted into a board and named Kano State Censorship Board in 2001 by Governor

Rabiu Kwankwaso 200px, Nigeria.html"_;"title="Kano_State_in_Nigeria">Kano_State_in_Nigeria_ Rabi'u_Musa_Kwankwaso,_Nigerian_Society_of_Engineers.html" ;"title="Nigeria_.html" ;"title="Nigeria.html" ;"title="Kano State in Nigeria">Kano State in Nigeria ">Nigeri ...

. Mr. Dahiru Beli was appointed the first Executive Secretary of the board.

Music

Songwriters and singers who produce or perform music in Hausa films include

Nazifi Asnanic Nazifi Abdulsalam Yusuf (born 2 February 1982) better known stage name Nazifi Asnanic is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, director, and producer. He was born and raised in the ancient city of Kano. Nazifi Asnanic often referred to as the Golden Voic ...

Naziru M Ahmad Naziru M Ahmad also known as Sarkin Waka (born 4 September 1986) is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Naziru was turbaned as Sarkin Wakan Sarkin Kano (Chief Singer of the Emir of Kano) in December 2018. An expert musician per excellence with sp ...

Ali Jita Ali Isah Jita (born 15 July 1983), simply known as Ali Jita. He is a Nigerian Hausa musician, singer and song writer. Early life Ali Jita was born into the family of Alhaji Sallau Jibrin Kibiya who is a butcher and his mother Hajiya Ummul-Khair ...

, and Fati Nijar.

Umar M Sharif ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

Critics

Islamic critics

In 2003, with the rise of the Izala and the coming to power of

Ibrahim Shekarau Ibrahim Shekarau (born 5 November 1955) was a former Nigerian minister of education and two-term Governor of Kano State in Nigeria. He was elected in April 2003 and reelected in April 2007. He is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). H ...

, the then ultra-religious government of Kano initiated an iconoclastic campaign against Kannywood. Numerous movies deemed irreligious were censored and some film makers were jailed. This reversed some of the gains Kannywood had made and allowed the Southern Nigerian film industry to supersede it.

Problems with government

In 2007, the ''Hiyana Affair'': when the sex tape of a popular actress became public led to a severe backlash from the then Islamist government of

Kano State Kano State (Hausa: ''Jihar Kano''جىِهَر كَنوُ) (Fula: Leydi Kano 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞤲𞤮𞥅 ) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. According to the national census done in ...

under

. Shekarau went on to appoint a Director General for the censorship board, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem with the support of the

Izala Society Izala Society or ''Jama'atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah'' (Society of Removal of Innovation and Re-establishment of the Sunnah), also called JIBWIS, is a Salafi movement originally established in Northern Nigeria to fight what it sees a ...

and other Islamist organisations, Kannywood and the equally popular Hausa romantic novel industry were severely censored, actors, actresses and writers were jailed by the state government and books and other media materials were burnt by the Governor himself. In 2011 the replacement of the Islamist government by a much more liberal government led by the PDP led to a more favourable atmosphere for the industry. In 2019, following the re-election of governor

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR (born 25 December 1949) is a Nigerian politician who is currently serving as the Governor of Kano State. He took over office in 2015. He previously served as Rabiu Kwankwaso's deputy governor twice, between 1999 to ...

as governor of Kano State, a new spate of arrests of musicians and filmmakers was launched by the Censorship Board under its Executive Secretary, Isma'il Na'abba Afakallahu. A movie director, Sunusi Oscar, and a musician, Naziru M. Ahmad, were arrested and taken to court over accusations that they released songs without the permission of the censor. The duo were released on bail. The opposition Kwankwasiyya Movement stated that the arrests were politically motivated because the accused persons were considered as sympathizers of the Peoples Democratic Party in the last general election.

References

{{Reflist Cinema of Nigeria Hausa-language culture