Novelist turned screenwriter/director Bala Anas Babinlata is one of the founders of Kannywood. He tells IBRAHI HAMISU that he was an actor before he finally switched to directing.
What is your educational status?
I was originally a secretary; I studied secretariat studies as a confidential secretary.
I acquired my movie education through various training sessions, online schools and informal film education.
How did you join Kannywood?
I didn’t join Kannywood; we created Kannywood around 1988 – 1990.
What are the rest of the founders of Kannywood?
We’re more than 100 in number.
The film industry has a very wide scope; what is your area of expertise?
You said expertise? I wouldn’t call it that. All I can tell you is that I write scripts, I direct movies. And I am also into 3D animation, film editing and visual FX. That’s all.
Do you belong to a union or association of professionals?
Yes. I belong to the Directors Guild. In the movie business we don’t use the word association, Guild is more appropriate. The only Association in the industry belongs to producers/exhibitors. All the other branches e.g. screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors, editors, composers, and designers, belong to their respective Guilds.
What was the first film that you’ve directed?
I directed Tsuntsu Mai Wayo (one of my novels) in 1993/94. It was my debut as a director. The last film I featured in was Munkar.
What achievements have you recorded so far?
I am not sure what you mean by achievement. If you’re talking about personal achievements, I can say I have won some merit awards at the national level. Kadaura and Waraka received Zuma Best Indigenous Awards, respectively. I received the MOPPAN Best Directors’ Award in 2005. And the same Waraka was selected and screened in Cannes Film Festival 2007. I organised a series of screenwriting training sessions for young and upcoming writers. I also wrote a book on screenwriting titled Rubutun Film.
What are your challenges?
I want to make a movie that can compete with any international movie, at any stage, but one of the biggest challenges that every Kannywood member is stuck with is finance. To produce a standard movie one needs to have a lot of money. As much as I want to blame the wealthy for refusing to invest, and the government for not funding the industry, I also have to believe that we are the architects of our own failures.
Let me take you back to memory lane. From 2000 to 2003, Kannywood generated more than N2 billion in profits. No matter the kind of film we produce, be it a low-class movie (camama) or a standard movie (aka Sentimental), people will just be hungry and buy any product from us. But what have we done with all these profits? Instead of investing the profits wisely, we usually end up buying luxury cars, and marrying new wives. We’re still being haunted by this mistake.
What do you anticipate for Kannywood for the next 10 years?
We are now living in a digital era, an era where audio visual has been hijacked by the Internet; even newspapers and books migrated to online platforms. Our colleagues in the South are already benefiting from the new system; they have strong and reliable platforms such as Nollyland and Iroko TV, while we only rely on YouTube – a free channel that was not designed for business.
Film making is a modern business that requires education and keeping abreast with new developments. It is hard to predict what will happen in the next 10 years in Kannywood, but if we educate and update ourselves, I can say without hesitation that in 10 years, Kannywood can rule the Nigerian movie industry. This is because Hausa land is the leader when we talk of culture and storyline.
What’s your wish for your fans?
They should be patient with us, and be ready to see some high quality movies in some years to come.
