Women in Kannywood make important demand

By Joshua Olomu

Hauwa Bello, President of Kannywood Women Association of Nigeria (K-WAN), has called for capacity-building initiatives and other opportunities for female filmmakers in the industry.

Kannywood is a soubriquet for Hausa-language cinema, a part of the larger Nigerian cinema, known as Nollywood.

Bello made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on the sideline at the just concluded training conference organised by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) at Kannywood TV Hall in Kano.

The interactive conference tagged ‘NFVCB meets Kannywood,’ brought together filmmakers, including directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors and skit makers within the industry.

The Kannywood Women president told NAN that the Hausa film industry has an array of female actors who were doing well, but were yet to be really involved in production functions.

According to her, “the presence of women is yet to be felt in non-acting functions, such cinematography, directing, editing and other roles because of lack of capacity building opportunities.”

Bello, who is a seasoned editor, said the industry has been dominated by male filmmakers with no intentional platforms or initiatives to support their female counterparts.