Isiyaku Ahmed
More collaborations between Television stations and Nigerian film makers is required to move the industry forward towards achieving the desired positive change.
One of Nigeria’s Film Director, Screen writer, Producer and a Peace advocate, Peter Andrew aka Sir Pee made the call in an exclusive interview with Stallion Times in his office in Kano.
He says his journey into the film making for over two decades has not been smooth, but he has been following the trend not to be left behind.
He directed the first Etsako Film on VHS and CD, that kick started the Etsako film Industry in 1999.
The Etsako film industry now provides occupation to a section of people, spin money for others in Etsako town, all thanks to Sir Pee.
So far, he has produced and directed many films to his credit and is fondly regarded as one of the champions of emerging film for impacts in Nigeria.
In 2016 he co-directed a Hausa film titled “Asubahi,” with A G M Bashir and produced by an erstwhile friend simply called Jeff. After which he acted in some popular Hausa films like “Doya da Manja,” “Kwana Casa’in”, “Dadin Kowa”, making him a household name in the northern Nigeria.
Recently, he started producing films in a different way after a close encounter with High-Definition Film Academy, (HDFA), Abuja. The organization also runs a non-governmental organization, Film for Impact Foundation (FFIF).
Andrew is the northwest coordinator, FFIF. He says “we make films that cause change in the society, we use film as catalyst for change, if you like, to cause positive change in the society.”
In 2019, he decided to give back to the society in form of service and formed a non-governmental organization called Media Initiative for Peace and Development (MIPAD).
Basically, the NGO promotes peaceful co-existence among diverse ethnic tribes anywhere in the country using media (film, radio, television and the internet) to pass messages of peace and development.
MIPAD has produced three short films “Waye Wawa”, “Makahon Martani” and “State of Emergency” in collaboration with Film for Impact Foundation to address the issue of peace in northern Nigeria and elsewhere in the country.
“Makahon Martani” is a story of reprisal attacks occasioned by some ugly events in the southern Nigeria while “State of Emergency” is on the abuse of Almajiri system in northern Nigeria. These two films were a huge success and it gave MIPAD a land mark breakthrough.
The success came with challenges. The major ones are finance and film marketing.
He says “We are tapping to use NorthFlix, an online streaming platform to push for return on investment, but not everybody owns an android phone, if they do, they may not be aware of the platform.”
Sir Pee feels television stations should work and collaborate with film makers as partners in progress to move the industry forward.
He says “The collaboration should be seen form of developing rich local content, distribution and airing local films to reach a wider audience because a large number of viewers do not have access to streaming facilities.”
Despite the challenges of Coivd-19, Sir Pee and his NGO are looking to see how to catch the young boys and girls to inculcate in them peace and moral values by forming peace clubs in schools.
He says “Its good to empower people, but if you empower someone and he is not at peace with himself, he will end up becoming what you don’t want him to be.”
Sir Pee is working on a new film project with a different approach. Watch out!
