Kannywood has been around for over two decades and in all of its years of existence its leadership and sensitive positions have been dominated and controlled by men.
The surveys also revealed that aside from acting and dressing up, female practitioners hardly engage in other aspects of the industry.
Although at the initial stage, the Hausa film industry was seen as a temporary undertaking, but gradually the industry became a child of necessity for the socio-cultural development of the Hausa communities.
However, despite legislation establishing the Kano State Board of Censorship Act 2001 as a regulatory body, women practitioners were still seen as having less of a role to play in the development of the industry.
Likewise, with the gradual development of the industry, different guilds of professionalism have emerged for different people based on their choices and preferences, and yet women in the industry have had a practically limited chance to excel professionally when their male colleagues were basically becoming very famous and successful as well as highly placed in society.
It has been reliably established that female Kannywood practitioners realized that they had to play their own piece as no one seemed to be interested in playing their piece in the industry as the Hausa film industry was gradually becoming a male dominated industry. men, women assuming the role of simple artists only.
As vast as the Kannywood film industry is, recent findings revealed that there was only one female editor, few female producers and a director with no representation in cinematography and lighting among other practices. involved in the industry.
Based on their lack of representation in most film sectors of the industry, a decision was made to establish what is known today as the Kannywood Women Association of Nigeria (K-WAN). According to the president of the new association created to increase the participation of women in the industry, Hajiya Hauwa A. Bello, popularly known as Hauwa Editor, the practitioners realized that they had missed many opportunities that would have could propel women. in the film industry at the highest peak of the profession.
The president, who claimed to have been in the Hausa film industry for more than two decades, added that there was a need for women in the industry to wake up and push for better days ahead of their profession as female artists. “Had we initially had the chance to explore the many opportunities in the industry, we would have been ahead of where we are today. Also, it is no longer news that women in Kannywood have limited rights, and we believe that it is high time to effectively protect these rights. We have realized that individually we do not have the capacity to pursue our goals, but as an association, we will be able to pursue what is ours. It’s obvious that women are left on their own to seek opportunities and privileges in the industry,” she said.
The president also revealed that with the establishment of K-WAN, women in Kannywood are gradually having a voice in the film world.
Similarly, actress, singer and producer Jamila Muhammad Garkuwa, who has been in the industry for over a decade, said her biggest dream is to see women in Kannywood allowed to explore all avenues that will ensure their economic empowerment.
According to her, global best practices in filmmaking have given women the right to participate in all sectors of filmmaking practices. She explained that with this in mind, she advocated for women to be involved in promoting the mass participation of women in filmmaking for their economic empowerment. Garkuwa claimed that she started as a singer, then became an actress and later became a producer who produced films in the industry.
She further stated that her biggest dream is to see the presence of women in places where there were no women before in film practices.
“Kannywood women deserve more than they are getting right now, most women are actresses or not, and it will also interest you to know that even the makeup artists in the industry are mostly male. The question here is, are there no women in the industry or what is the reason for the inefficient use of women as part of industry coordinators and developers? These are the storylines that we hope to gradually resolve,” Jamila said.
