Popular Nigerian actress and producer Rahama Sadau is due to break barriers for the Hausa film industry Kannywood when her film ‘Mati A Zazzau’ begins streaming on Netflix on December 30.
The actress announced the development in her social media handles, revealing that ‘Mati a Zazzau’, a comedy, would begin to stream on the American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service on December 30, 2023.
The film, co-produced by Asmasan Pictures and her own Sadau Pictures, was first released on February 7, 2020 at a cinema house in Kano.
In an Instagram post, Sadau said: “It is a delightful movie, an entertaining movie, and it is also the first (Kannywood ) movie to be streamed on Netflix. This is a no mean feat. Don’t wait to be told about it.”
The New Citizen reports that many Kannywood producers had wanted to see how they could have their films accepted by Netflix, where they could make not only huge profits but also a name for themselves.
Netflix pays between $10,000 and $90,000 for a film in Nigeria.
Movie producers in the southern Nigerian industry known as Nollywood have had many of their films accepted by Netflix, with more than 30 of the films currently running on the site.
Mati A Zazzau’s pioneering entry into the streaming app is expected to help open the floodgate for Kannywood.
Previously, Kannywood producers were having their films streamed on local apps such as Northflix and kallo.ng.
Apart from Netflix, they are also looking to break the barriers on Amazon Prime Video.
Mati A Zazzau is a sequel to an earlier flick produced by Sadau, Mati Da Lado, in which Mati escapes his village and goes to the city of Zazzau where he engages in a struggle to recover his inheritance that was left behind by his rich deceased father in the hands of a friend.
The story was written by Yakubu M. Kumo while the film was directed by Yaseen Auwal, with acting by popular stars such as Sadiq Sani Sadiq (Mati), Rahama Sadau (Rama), Hadiza Blell (Madina), Umar Gombe (Garba), Jamila Nagudu (Asabe), Rabi’u Rikadawa (Barau), Aminu Sharif Ahlan (Ilyasu), Tahir I. Tahir (Lado), and Adam A. Zango (Yarima).