Kannywood
| Hausa-language Cinema | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| No. of screens | 150 (2009) |
| • Per capita | ??? |
| Produced feature films (2011) | |
| Fictional | 1000 |
| Number of admissions | |
| Total | 500,000 |
The Hausa-language cinema, also known informally as Kannywood is the Hausa-language film industry of Northern Nigeria. It is mainly based in Kano.
Kannywood is the sobriquet for the Hausa language cinema. It is a part of the larger Nigerian cinema, known as Nollywood, which includes other production centres producing films in many other Nigerian languages.
The name "Kannywood" is a portmanteau derived from Kano and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry.
"Kannywood" has origins in the 1990s, when Sunusi Shehu of Tauraruwa Magazine created the term Kannywood and then it became the popular reference term for the industry. The term "Kannywood" was coined in 1999, three years before the term Nollywood came about.
Nigeria is the second largest producer of films in the world, Kannywood alone contribute about 60% of the total number of movies produced. The Hausa home videos are highly consumed by audience in all the Hausa speaking communities in Nigeria and Diaspora.
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 and Mamman Ladan introduced the Hausa Comedy to the Northern audience.
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 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.
The release of Turmin Danya written by Aminu Hassan Yakasai in March 1991 led to an upsurge in productions. Sunusi Shehu of Tauraruwa Magazine created the term Kannywood in 1999 and it soon became the popular reference term for the industry.
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