Kannywood Awards 3rd edition set to hold Jan 16

By Ibrahim Ramalan

The third edition of Kannywood Awards, which is considered to be the largest gathering of Hausa movie artistes, Technical crew, relevant individuals and groups in the country has been set to hold on January 16, 2016 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
According to the statement made available to newsmen, the 2016 edition will comprise of more than 20 awards, given under 3 separate categories – Popular Awards, Jury Awards (Technical and Critics Awards) and special Awards.
The award was launched in 2013 by Sarari Klassique Merchandise, and was created to acknowledge talented artists in Kannywood and further showcase patriotism through entertainment.

This award has certain affected the trajectory of the whole Kannywood movie industry because so far it is the highest platform that is non-partisan, non-religious body that is aimed at rewarding excellence, professionalism and creativity in Kannywood movie industry.
Especially as Kannywood being a Hausa movie industry that is domiciled across the North with the marketing hub and production in Kano state, and Hausa language being the second largest speaking language in Africa, including the caliber of the dignitaries and industry stakeholders that is usually attracted to this award, portend a brighter future to the industry.

Therefore, the future and prospect of the film industry will defy boundaries and rage through continents beyond Africa, even to the incurable pessimists, because there is no icing on the cake that the mammoth crowd this reporter witnessed at the last Award Ceremony was so mind boggling that the over two thousand sitting capacity NAF conference hall was filled to the brim.
Las edition of the award was themed: “Unity in diversity” and the awards are of three different categories. Category one is called “Popular Yello Award” which is based on the popularity of the character or artist and they are chosen by public voting conducted online and via text messages via MTN platforms.

The voting emerged Ali Nuhu as the most popular Kannywood actor of the year, Nafisah Abdullah most popular Kannywood actress of the year, Yasin Auwal, most popular director of the year, and late Rabilu Musa Dan Ibro remained the popular comedian of the year.
The second category award, which is otherwise called Jury Award, is presented to artists who in the course of their production and performance showcased exceptional talents in the area of best sound recording, special effects and what have you.
To arrive at this, a team of professionals from various fields within the movie industry were assembled to serve as jurists. These jurists were saddled with the responsibility of reviewing seventy seven selected movies.

The outcome of which saw Sadiq Sani Sadiq as the best actor of the year, Hadiza Gabon as the best actress of the year, Aminu Sera as the best director of the year, Mohammed Ali as the best visual effect artist of the year.
Ahmad Bello as the best cinematographer of the year, late Rabilu Musa Dan Ibro as the best comedian of the year, Rahama A Majid as the best script writer of the year, Zubair I Ataye as the best costumier of the year, Murtala Abdullahi as the best film editor of the year, Alhaji Siyu Jos/Alhaji Indabawa as the best make-up artists of the year, TK Ahmad as the best musician of the year, and ‘Ashabul Khafi’ as the best film of the year.

Lastly, the third category award, which was called Special Award category, was presented to individuals who have made special contributions to the growth of Kannywood industry. These individuals that fell within this category and were awarded accordingly included the FormerVice President, Mohammad Namadina Sambo, the Executive governor of Nasarawa state, Alhaji Tanko Almakura, Former Deputy Governor of Kano state, Alhaji Ganduje and the Grand Khadi of Kano state.

However, in this 2016th edition, according to a reliable source, there may likely not be Popular Award category. In that, it is going to be so dicey for the jurists to arrive at the winners considering the fact that the winners of the last year’s Popular Award category, Ali Nuhu and Nafisa Abdullah, are still bobbling and doing wonderfully well and Hadiza Gabon and Sadiq S. Sadiq are also very much around.
The source said: “This year’s award there is going to be a lot of competition because Hadiza Gabon, who won the Best Actress of the year, will have to grapple with the Nafisa Abdullah who was the popular actress of the year. Also, another actress am seeing as threat is Fati Washa who is doing wonderfully well in the industry.

“Sadiq Sani Sadiq did well last year but I don’t know how he will compete with Ali Nuhu who is now left with no option than to win that award, since the Popular Award is not going to be given. Then Adam A. Zango is also on his toes, Zaharaddini Sani is also on the race based on his recent performance.
“Going by what these guys are doing, even if am confronted to select the best out of them, I would be at lost,” the source disclosed.

As far the Directorial category, the source also said: “I don’t think Aminu Sera has made any imprint capable of winning him this award, especially with Hassan Giggs ‘Hindu’, which came with a lot of trail blazing features. Indeed that film deserves an award.

“Adam Zango also on this category will not go unrecognized for his film called: ‘Gwaska’, which is another blockbuster that will give the jurists a lot of headache.
“Also, there are some iconic Directors that are coming up now that cannot be glossed over. I think the likes of Auwal Yasin and Kamal S.Alkali who have some wonderful flicks to show the world,” the source emphasized.