Cross Culture Filming - Nollywood

All societies have their individual social customs; things seen as fine and normal in once country may well be taboo in another. Sex portrayed on screen may be tolerated in some countries but is likely to cause social and moral outrage in others - and we may not be talking placard protests here. In some societies outrage takes more dynamic shape than waving banners of protest. Offend if you dare. Such social constraints might frustrate a Hollywood director, but other film faiths have found their own routes to salvation when faced with the unportrayable. Here's an object lesson in filming across faiths from one of the hottest talents in Nollywood, which is what Nigeria's growing low budget industry likes to style itself. Nigeria is a country that can be divided by faith. Traditional and Christian faiths in the southern, coastal provinces of the country, but the North is a land of Islam. Here,in common with most of North and West Africa, Sharia law governs everything, including social customs and what may be seen as entertainment on screen and what may not.

For Nigerians he's the ultimate film poster actor from the North. Ali Nuhu with over 100 credits in movies, has wooed audiences all over Nigeria and West Africa, especially the Hausa-speaking communities. Now, Ali Nuhu is taking his career across Nigeria’s border. The  University of Jos geography graduate of Geography will move with his cast and crew out of the ancient Northern Nigeria city of Kano to shoot his new movie, Iso (The Usher) in Gabon.  Iso, he says, is a story of love denied, love gained.

“Iso tells the story of a man who marries a woman he professes to love. After their marriage in the northern part of Nigeria, he takes the woman to Gabon to start live as a new couple. But to the man’s utter surprise, he encounters his childhood love in Gabon and Cupid's arrow strikes. That begins a throes of pain for his wife which leads to neglect and eventual break in the marriage that is conceived in Nigeria.” 

The story, Ali said is not another run of the mill story. “It might sound ordinary now that I’m narrating it to you or any listener but the plot and dialogue the characters will engage themselves in, would make a lot of difference.” The story will be told in Hausa, one of the widest spoken languages across West Africa.

The choice of Gabon as location, a tiny West African country, is because there are Hausa speaking people, though it is largely a French speaking country.

Popular as Ali Nuhu is as an actor, he’s not enjoyed tremendous media presence. But across  the Northern part of Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Saudi Arabia, UK and the USA with a sizeable Nigerian Hausa community, his face is as popular as the popular beverage kniwn as kunu. At the 10th Afro Hollywood Awards in London in November, he won more admirers. Looking regal and resplendent in his white and blue Senegalese dress, he walked tall to receive his awards as the Best Hausa Actor.  A battery of photographers snapped away to record the golden moment in a Park Lane hotel. His victory did not come cheap. After his nomination alongside others head to head, he emerged the winner with an overwhelming number of votes by fans through SMS. In the aftermath of his victory, he became an immediate guest on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Hausa language programme for an interview, before being hosted to a lavish dinner by members of the Hausa community in London.

Interestingly, Ali recalled: “I never wanted to act full time though I have a great passion for acting. Then I could remember that I used to act at the NTA when I lived in Jos, because I had a couple of friends working there. I was later introduced to Awelu Saliu, a TV drama director, who gave me a break in Based on the True Story.  I was very excited to have acted alongside leading actors like St. Obi, Tejan Cole, Rekiyah Attah and Sanni Muazu. Though I played the minor role of a supermarket attendant, the director acknowledged the fact that I did well. Now I want to do it for a living”

Gradually, he started building up his movie repertoire and he became the favourites of directors and the first choice of film fans in Northern Nigeria. He’s starred in several TV serials and movies  - House on Fire, The Assignment, The Dream, Show Down, Unchained, Me, My Brother and Death and Holy Law among others. 

Ali says those early days were not just about embracing other thespians or burning under the klieg lights, they were his tutelage years for a move in another direction. As he made progress towards movie stardom “ I was cleverly learning how to become a movie director. Candidly speaking, I learnt a lot of that from late Tidjani Ibrahim. He directed so many movies in the North and I’m confident to say that he was the best.  He practically sat me down and taught me a lot. I cannot also forget the input of Femi Kayode, when I was a Youth Corps member at the Cultural Centre in Ibadan. These people prepared me for the challenges of being an actor and a director.”

His decision to combine acting with directing, he said, was borne out of the yawning gap between movies released and the technical input. “Some of our movies were not properly directed, the quality of the pictures was poor and these factors used to affect the sales and ratings of our movies. So, it was expedient for me to learn directing and I think I’ve closed the gap a bit.”

His credits in core Hausa movies include Abaye (Veil), Sangayah, Abisinirine. A review of his roles in movies show that he’s drawn to stories about life of ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary events or emotions.  The central themes in his movies are life, love, adultery, passion, power and poverty. However, he admitted that his role in Sangaya, tasked his acting skill. “Though I’m vulnerable to play any role but I required more than natural to play the role of a Prince in Sangayah. I am not from the royal family. I’ve never been close to any royal personality. But thank God, the director got somebody who taught me the manners of a typical Northern prince. I’m happy the movie turned out one of the best that ever came from the North.”

As a director and producer in the Northern part of Nigeria where Sharia operates, Ali discloses that nothing in narrative is barred. “There are no limitations to the story you may tell but there are things you cannot do on set or screen, For instance, you don’t have to show a love scene or a couple kissing - but you can send the message with a man and a woman sitting on a bed, not necessarily touching or rolling over each other. If you do, you are sending a wrong message.”

So does that sort of stricture hinder his ability as a director to create a story and captivate his audience?

“Yes it curtails the director and the actor’s power to express themselves but it’s important that you put into consideration the society you are addressing through the movie.  That’s your target, the society. The society frowns at films they consider debasing or immoral. Don’t forget, watching movies in the North usually involves the whole family. Many families feel comfortable watching carefully edited films. Also, films with violence as themes don’t sell in the North, parents feel their children can be unduly influenced.”

Born to Alhaji Nuhu Poloma, a senior politician in the Peoples Democratic Party and his late mother, a former caterer with Nigeria Airways, Ali said his parents were initially indifferent to his choice of career. At 31, Ali married Memuna, a political science undergraduate at university in Kano and they have been and blessed with a daughter, Fatima.

Has his married status changed the way some of his many female admirers feel about him?
Even in countries which are just developing screen industries, star status brings blessings of all varieties, some of which can be very persistent.

"I’m happy that they like my films, my story. I try as much as possible to restrict my relationship with the opposite sex - to fan and actor relationships. Surprisingly, some of them seem to want more than that. You can imagine what a particular lady who has been on my neck for sometime now wants. She’s been pursuing me with the request that she wants to be my second wife. But I’m comfortable with my wife, too bad I couldn’t help the poor girl.”