Kannywood struggles despite potential — Uzee Usman

He described one discouraging encounter with a popular director who told him he lacked the necessary personality and appearance to act, advising him to work behind the camera instead.

Kannywood actor Uzee Usman has attributed the slow growth of the Hausa-language film industry to insufficient investment and sponsorship. Although the industry has produced hundreds of films and cultivated a loyal audience across northern Nigeria and parts of West Africa, it has yet to secure the corporate financial support that Nollywood enjoys.

Speaking about the industry’s development on The Morayo Show this Wednesday, Usman acknowledged Kannywood’s progress, including its international recognition. However, he maintained that its expansion remains hindered by a lack of backing.

“I’m one of the people who really pushed it out there to the global world with my movie Voiceless, the movie about Boko Haram… I think it’s a growing industry. They’re coming up gradually,” the 39-year-old said. “On what’s stalling Kannywood, I think it’s more of sponsorship. It’s more of an investment. The core Northerners who are the millionaires, the politicians, they really don’t believe in entertainment the way most people in the South do.”

Career origins

Reflecting on his entry into the industry, the actor—who has successfully navigated both Nollywood and Kannywood—revealed that he faced significant rejection early in his career.

“In 2003, I used to come to audition all the way from Kaduna to the National Theatre… It’s not like now. When you go to audition, you’ll be singled out from like a thousand people, and you have to audition in their presence,” he recalled.

He described one discouraging encounter with a popular director who told him he lacked the necessary personality and appearance to act, advising him to work behind the camera instead.

Transition to makeup

Rather than deterring him, those remarks inspired Usman to take up makeup, a decision that ultimately paved the way for his entry into acting and film production. He initially trained under Gabriel Okorie, known as Gabazini, before travelling to South Africa to further develop his special effects skills.

“So then, Gabazini is one of the biggest makeup artists in Hollywood. Then I approached him. I said, ‘I want to learn makeup.’ He said, ‘No problem.’ So that’s how I started holding his bag,” Usman said. “From 2003 to 2005, I was able to go to South Africa to learn special effects. I came back, and I became one of the biggest makeup artists in Nigeria.”