I’m not really a Nollywood director, but… – Mak Kusare

You are known for Nollywood bashing but with your film ‘Champions of Our Time’ you seem to have become a bona fide Nollywood director. Why is that?

Mak Kusare: You know Nollywood has become synonymous with the Nigerian film industry as now the Nigerian film industry is being referred to as Nollywood. Times have changed as we have those who have grown in this industry from the days of VHS to what we have at present now. Recent developments have shown that there is some kind of synergy and some kind of cooperation with the different types of film makers giving birth to a new Nollywood.

So, when you talk of Nollywood in that sense, I am one of them. Most times when I travel outside the country, I am asked are you a film maker and I answer in the affirmative and they then ask if I’m a Nollywood director and I say no and they look as if we are confused.

But the point is most of us who believe we have formal training believe that Nollywood is synonymous to mediocrity and to that extent we do not want to be associated with mediocrity, so we refuse to be part of Nollywood as regards that.

But when you look at it in the broader sense in which I am looking at right now, which is the Nigerian film industry in totality, then yes, I am part of Nollywood. But as per mediocrity, I am not part of Nollywood.

For me to be called upon to make this movie goes a long way to say that they wanted a change from the norm. When I was called upon for the movie, I was told categorically that any other Nollywood director to work on it but what they wanted was something different and unique. They wanted something that could stand the test of time. So you that most of these people are actually willing to cooperate and learn new things.

Your work on BBC’s TV series ‘Wetin Dey’ seems to have made you fall in love with the medium. Which do you prefer, TV or movies?

Kusare: For me it is movies any day. I would rather produce for television and not direct for television. But because I am a director generally, I tend to get television directing jobs but then I took up the BBC’s job as a director mainly to sharpen my skills on directing and then to learn TV as it were. So as a professional one should try to understand the true sense of TV directing and how it should be produced.

Whether I was a director or not, that particular experience was a training ground for me and I needed to have knowledge of the entire medium. These days you cannot stick to one particular area and I have been able to combine all of them.

How involved were you with ‘David’s Fall’ which is currently running on AIT?

Kusare: I was the associate producer and a director. An associate producer in that my company was called upon to produce for Televista. So that was why it was a Televista production and not in association with any other company. So I worked as a producer earning the credit as an associate producer and director.

Some critics say it is more of a soap opera than outright drama. What do you think is responsible for this impression?

Kusare: It’s the script. The script is a soap opera script; it is soap opera because it is kind of slow I suppose and to some extent repetitive and those are characteristics of a soap opera. People are not expected to give it a hundred percent attention, it is basically housewives, who have kids and have something doing. So if you make it too fast and big in the other sense people who follow the story might not really get the story.

How much closer are you to realizing your dream of directing a Hausa movie?

Kusare: Very close. Basically, I have friends, Hausa producers movie in Kano. We’ve been talking and I am sure one of these days, you know how these things go, I’ll be making a Hausa movie. I think what is actually stopping me from doing that right now is that I have not seen the script. If I can get the right script now, I will definitely hit location.

What do you look for in an actor or actress when casting a part?

Kusare: Most importantly, the passion. Then I look for talent. One that comes naturally, the person’s mind, interest and other stuff like that. Sometimes things that are not particularly involved with acting but are more involved with the person’s speciality. I like the personality because at the end of the day it is the person’s personality that brings out the whole idea of the script and makes a good movie.

When is your movie ‘Comrade’ getting released?

Kusare: The problem of ‘Comrade’ is multifaceted in the sense that we have issue with the National Film and Video Censors Board. We have issues with the way Nigerians are going to perceive it generally. We have been in a couple of festivals and it is not really as impressive as we expected it to be. Because of its subject matter, it is a revolutionary film in a sense. It is revolutionary in its style.

It was the same thing at AMAA and the ION Film Festival as I was called later on and told that the movie generated a lot of controversy as the judges were fighting and arguing among themselves if the film should go or not and arguments that the movie did not portray Nigeria in good light came up. I was surprised because for me the movie portrayed Nigeria in a very positive light. As a matter of fact we did not pretend about it or mince words. The story simply passes a message that enough is enough and that things should be done properly. We are actually working on it, to see what we can do with the movie.

With ‘Comrade’ you actually made an art house movie using new talent mixed with established Nollywood people but with the tone of ‘Champions of Our Time’ it seems a little on the mainstream side. Why have you moved away from your super-stylized technique which you were using earlier?

Kusare: I have not moved away. ‘Champions of Our Time’ is all about an otherwise physically challenged girl who would not be given the opportunity to rise up to her full capabilities just because she is physically challenged. I also like to take my stories from such angles, the fact that we are not all the same does not make us inferior or superior instead we should see how we can work together and make things better for ourselves and the society as a whole.

You got married last year and your wife is not in the film industry. How does she feel about you being around beautiful women at most times?

Kusare: She is getting used to it. Initially when we were dating I explained it to her and I think she underestimated what I was talking about but with time she started getting used to it. She is a new wife and she needs her husband all the time which is understandable, but she understands that work must be done.

She understands my kind of work, that I receive calls from different people and some even call at odd hours. In that aspect she is very understanding. She is even learning editing now as she insists on editing some of my works even though she is into the medical profession. She is beginning to understand the entertainment industry better. She is also a very good critic.

How have you been able to balance work and married life?

Kusare: I think it comes with maturity. Asides the fact that I am a film maker, if I were anything else I would work and get married and one day become a father and manage that as well. It is a natural thing in life, it has its challenges but then people have done it and lived through it and I should be able to do it.

You have been described as Nollywood’s big hope. How does that make you feel?

Kusare: I’d have said it feels like a heavy weight, but I never have and never will see myself as Nigerian movies’ ‘saviour’. There are really cool, young filmmakers out there. All they need is support. And training.