Bayero University, Kano (BUK) has announced plans to establish a centre for archiving and preserving indigenous films, with a focus on Kannywood productions.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Sagir Abbas, disclosed this on Monday in Kano during the Kano Indigenous Languages of Africa Film Market and Festival (KILAF24) conference held at the institution.
The theme of the conference is “Forging Cultural Identities in a Multicultural Africa: The Role of Indigenous Language Films.”
Represented by Prof. Dambatta Muhammad, Abass explained the significance of the KILAF24 conference as an important platform for discussing key issues facing Indigenous films.
He noted that the centre, when established, will play a pivotal role in preserving indigenous films for future generations, ensuring that African cultural heritage is safeguarded.
“The initiative shows the university’s commitment to preserving African cultural heritage and providing resources for the study and archiving of these important works.
“This provides us with another opportunity to discuss critical issues. As usual, KILAF24 is in African languages,” he added.
Abbas also revealed that the partnership between BUK and the film industry, which began in 2021, aimed at fostering collaboration between academics and film practitioners.
“It supports a conducive environment for intellectual discussions. Moving Image, on its part, has gone the extra mile to ensure that the conference is held annually,” he said.
The Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Prof. Umar Jibril, stressed the growing importance of the African film industry.
“BUK and Moving Image have solidified a partnership for over four years, despite the tough economic challenges Nigeria is facing.
“The partnership has continued to grow, with Moving Image providing financial support and BUK offering a conducive environment,” Jibril said.
Earlier, Abdulkareem Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of Moving Image, stressed the role of indigenous languages in preserving cultural identity.
“KILAF is the answer to ensuring we do not lose our identity, because language is the vehicle of culture, and through languages, we maintain our own identity,” Ibrahim said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day conference attracted participants from across Nigeria and other African nations.
