Ali Nuhu, managing director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), has announced a new partnership to preserve important works from Nigeria’s film history.
The collaboration is with Cinematheque Suisse and the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art in Berlin, Germany. NFC is a federal government agency responsible for developing Nigeria’s film industry and preserving the country’s audiovisual heritage.
In a post on his official Instagram page on Thursday, Nuhu said the partnership will focus on digitizing two classic Nigerian films.
He wrote: “As the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation, I’m proud to announce our partnership with Cinematheque Suisse and Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, Berlin to digitize two important Nigerian classics.”
He named the films as Shaihu Umar and Kulba Na Barna. Shaihu Umar is a well-known Nigerian film adapted from a Hausa novel about a boy who is taken into slavery and later reunites with his family. “It teaches powerful lessons about patience, faith and justice,” Nuhu wrote.
According to the NFC boss, Kulba Na Barna is a 1992 northern Nigerian classic that carries a “strong moral story about how our choices and actions affect our lives and our community.” He added that both films are part of Nigeria’s cultural history, and that digitising them will allow young Nigerians to watch, learn from, and be proud of the country’s heritage.
Nuhu said the digitisation work also strengthens the National Film, Video and Sound Archive, which holds Nigeria’s audiovisual records, and helps keep the country’s stories alive for future generations. “We also appreciate the support of the Nigerian Embassy in Germany for helping deepen cultural exchange,” he wrote.
He concluded: “Together, we are preserving Nigeria’s history and sharing our stories with the world.”
The Nigerian Film Corporation, established in 1979, has the mandate to support film production, training, archiving and international partnerships for the Nigerian film sector. Its National Film, Video and Sound Archive holds thousands of films and recordings that document the nation’s cultural and social history.
