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International Conference on Hausa Films Kano, Nigeria, (First Announcement and Circular) August, 2003 Theme: Hausa Home Video: Society, Technology and Economy Introduction Media in general, and especially feature films, have the power to create situations and contexts. Mass media and the cinema — via the home video industry in developing societies such as Nigeria — supply major parts of society with information on current affairs and ideas held by a various sections of the society. They also serve as cultural mirrors that seek to entertain and educate. Since the burgeoning of the Hausa home video — commonly referred to as “films” — there has been a spate of commentaries on the phenomena, especially in Northern Nigeria. The industry, owing its antecedents to television soap operas and dramas of the early 1980s in urban Northern Nigeria, has succeeded in coloring the cultural landscape of a traditional society. It provided channels and conduits through which youth were able to express themselves more vividly in both direct and metaphorical methods, and in the process send messages to their respective communities. And while primarily an urban phenomena, the rapid availability of media technologies such as the home video and the cassette tape recorder, has created a further impact in peri-urban and rural communities of Northern Nigeria. Since the full-blown development of the Hausa home video industry, there has never been a sustained focused study on the phenomena: its evolution, development, impact and potentialities as an agency for social transformation. There had been criticisms of the phenomena, particularly from the religious establishment about the possible effects of the phenomena on the moral development of young Muslims in a traditional society. Rationale In the light of the need to systematically document, analyze and predict the phenomena of the Hausa home video industry in Northern Nigeria, an informal meeting comprising of industry participants and researchers from the academic community was convened at Kano in August 2002 to brainstorm the possibility of Kano State hosting a proposed International Conference on Hausa Films. The meeting unanimously agreed to the proposed conference and adopted that it should be a bi-annual affair, with the first Annual Conference on Hausa Films slated for March 2003. Objectives Thus the objectives of the conference would be: 1. To provide an in-depth analysis into the Hausa home video productions 2. To bring Hausa home video into the international limelight for possible foreign inputs and collaborations 3. To stimulate professional and academic discourse into the Hausa home video industry 4. To serve as an avenue for the positioning the future directions of the industry 5. To systematically serve as a research and documentation point on the Hausa home video industry 6. To serve as an avenue for interaction between critics and practitioners of the Hausa home videos 7. To serve as a center for the sustenance and imbibing of standards into Hausa home video industry The general theme of the proposed conference is Hausa Home Video: Society, Technology and Economy. The suggested sub-themes would include, but not exclusively restricted, to the following: Sub-Themes Hausa Society and Visual Entertainment (Contextual issues – society and religion) religion and entertainment culture among the Hausa audiences and the consumption of popular films Hausa Muslim women and Hausa home videos “stars”: “classical” or contemporary, and their being role models “Copy cat” syndrome and social issues in Hausa home video Film Production and Classification (technical issues) popular genres: comedy, melodrama, action, etc. directors and authorship in Hausa home videos crossovers among film and other popular media: novels, music, television, the impact/popularity of foreign films — especially Indian and Hollywood — among the Hausa emerging technologies and Hausa home videos Film Distribution and Consumption (marketing and mass appeal) production, distribution, and marketing of Hausa home videos Hausa home video in the Hausa Diaspora analyses of individual films cost-effectiveness of Hausa home video (aka is it worth it?_ Financing the Hausa home video Future of Hausa Film Industry Status and future direction of Hausa home videos Response to market forces Standardization of the industry Critical discourses on Hausa home videos Government regulation and the future of the home video industry Bridging the divide: role of non-Hausa into the Hausa home video industry Hausa Film industry as a “profession” Further individual topics can be created out these sub-themes Logistics: It is proposed that the Conference will take place in Kano (venue to be confirmed) in August 2003 and last for five days. The second day will have a reception night which will be a forum for new films to be premiered. The plenary sessions will be held each day from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., and from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Exhibitions and film shows will be held from 8.00 p.m. on the first day. There will also be “gala” nights for the entire duration of the conference. The format of participation at the conference would be in the form of a paper presentation. Presentations will be in the length of 20 minutes with 15 minutes reserved for discussion at the end of the plenary session. The languages of the presentations are English, French, and German. Panel proposals are welcome. Funding of primarily graduate student participation is anticipated. The publication of selected papers from the conference is planned in hard copy and online at www.hausafulani.com web site. The official language of the conference is Hausa, but papers in English and French will also be accepted. To facilitate communication, authors of presentations in Hausa, French or Arabic are asked to provide summaries in English when they deliver their papers. Interested participants are encouraged to send e-mail abstracts (250 words) to Prof. A.U. Adamu at abdalla@hausafulani.com. Write “Hausa Home Video Conference abstract” in the subject line. Further communication about the confrence will be posted to individuals as well as on the Kano Online website (www.kanoonline.com). Wannan wasik'ar i-mel ce daga H-Hausa, inda za'a cigaba da hira game da harshe da al'adu da tarihi da sauran lamura na Hausawa da mak'wabtansu.
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