Why Kannywood Is Still Behind Nollywood – Uzee Usman

Popular actor Uzee Usman has shared reasons why Kannywood is still not as developed as Nollywood despite its rich stories. He recently had his say while speaking on The Morayo Show, and fans have been reacting.

Identifying insufficient sponsorship and investment as the biggest challenge facing Kannywood, Uzee stated that wealthy Northerners and politicians have not invested enough in the Hausa-language film industry.

He added that despite the abundance of compelling stories, Kannywood’s growth has been slowed by inadequate financial backing.

His words, “Despite being around for a while and having good stories, I think the major issue affecting Kannywood is the lack of sponsorship and investment.

Many northerners who are millionaires and politicians don’t really believe in or invest in the entertainment industry the way people in the South do.”

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.