National Daily

Nigerian film producer in court over new movie

By BABAJIDE SOLE

LEADING movie producer, actor and politician, Alhaji Hamisu Lamido popularly known as Iyan-Tama, was remanded in police custody on the order of the court recently. Iyan-Tama was arrested by the police in Kano on the alleged offences of releasing a movie, Tsintsiya (meaning The Broom), in Kano without censorship and failure to register his production company with the Kano State Censorship Board.
Trend’tainment gathered that the Hausa film maker was earlier banned in Kano by the censor's board for six months until last February after a well known actress was featured in a bootlegged sex film, shot by her boyfriend on a mobile phone camera and released on DVD. Strict measures were then taken by the state censorship board in order to sanitize the film making business in the state in accordance to the state's Sharia laws. Singing and dancing was banned in films as authorities say they were immoral and "against Hausa culture".

Iyan-Tama insists that he had not broken any law and saw no reason why he was reprimanded. According to him, the movie was shot in Kaduna and was premiered by the US embassy in Abuja. He also stated that the film was not on sale anywhere in Kano and that his production company was duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. He also stated that he however refused to renew his registration with the state's censorship board since he was on the verge of relocating his office to Abuja before the arrest.

Iyan-Tama, who was also the state gubernatorial candidate under the New Democrat Party in last year's general elections stated that his trial was political, and designed to humiliate him due to his criticism of the government of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.

“The whole issue of my arrest is political designed to humiliate me. You know, I contested the election against Malam Shekarau last year. Since then I have openly opposed some of his policies, which is in the interest of the good people of Kano State. And they know I still intend to contest the governorship election in 2011,” he said.

Tsintsiya (The Broom), which is a Hausa language version of West Side Story, a 1961, musical about two youngsters from rival New York City gangs who fall in love. The film was funded by the United States Embassy in Nigeria to highlight the problems of ethnic and religious crises that bedevil the north. Tsintsiya won the Best Social Issue Film at the recently concluded Zuma Film Festival that was held in Abuja.