Northern film industry suffers from poor funding, restrictions — KADIFF director
by Moronfolu Adeyemi · The Eagle OnlineThe Director of the Kaduna International Film Festival (KADIFF), Audu Israel, has identified inadequate funding, socio-religious restrictions, poor access to modern equipment and limited government support as major obstacles to the growth of Northern Nigeria’s film industry.
Israel said the challenges had restricted filmmakers’ creative freedom, limited their ability to compete with counterparts in Southern Nigeria and hindered the international distribution of their productions.
He spoke during a media engagement with journalists in Kaduna on Monday, calling on the Federal Government to establish a support structure for the creative industry and ensure that practitioners benefited from policies intended to promote its growth.
The KADIFF director said Nigeria’s film industry relied largely on private-sector investment, unlike countries such as India, where government support had helped establish structures for the industry.
“In other countries, the film industry is very instrumental to the government.
“That is why you see Bollywood has a structure; the government has a structure for them. But in Nigeria, it is not the same,” he said.
Israel criticised what he described as the limited impact of the government’s engagement with creative practitioners, urging the Minister of Art and Culture to meet industry stakeholders, listen to their concerns and develop practical solutions.
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“The minister is working, but they don’t feel the impact of the government,” he said.
He acknowledged efforts by professional associations to support practitioners through partnerships with health insurance providers but maintained that such initiatives could not replace government intervention.
“The government has a major role to play. The contact person of the government is the minister, so this falls on her table,” Israel said.
On the challenges facing Northern filmmakers, he said socio-religious considerations had limited the subjects they could explore and the extent to which their work could be promoted to wider audiences.
“The major reason why the South is more advanced in the film industry is because they can freely and openly expose their art to the world.
“But here in the North, there are limitations to what you can do,” he said.
Israel added that these restrictions, combined with inadequate professional exposure and limited access to funding, had affected the competitiveness of Hausa-language films in the international market.
“The Northern film industry only produces films for the Northern audience,” he said, lamenting the limited presence of Hausa-language productions on international streaming platforms such as Netflix.
He attributed the situation partly to the technical requirements of international distributors and the high cost of acquiring equipment that meets their production standards.
“Netflix has its standard. If you are able to meet that standard, you know your camera cannot go on Netflix.
“The cameras that you are supposed to use; if you don’t use them, they will not accept it. So here in the North, the cameras that they have, they can’t afford to use them,” he said.
The KADIFF director called for stronger intellectual property protection, improved access to professional training and greater investment in production facilities.
He also argued that films addressing insecurity and other social challenges should be viewed as opportunities to highlight societal problems and encourage solutions rather than being subjected to unnecessary restrictions.
Israel urged the government, private investors, banks, telecommunications companies and technology firms to invest in the creative industry, noting that filmmaking could create jobs and contribute to economic development.
He said KADIFF would continue to provide a platform for connecting filmmakers with investors, policymakers and cultural institutions to strengthen the creative industry in Kaduna State and Northern Nigeria.
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