Unreported World is from Nigeria, home to one of the world’s most prolific film industries.
Reporter Anja Popp meets the women risking their livelihood and reputations to push the boundaries on screen.
In the conservative northern city of Kano, Kannywood produces movies for more than 80 million Hausa speakers. But the region is governed by strict Sharia law, and actresses and filmmakers face intense censorship and moral scrutiny.
On a rowdy set Popp meets pioneering director Mansurah Isah, one of the industry’s few female directors. Determined to reflect the challenges of Hausa women in a male dominated world, we observe Mansurah anguishing over a childbirth scene that risks being cut for showing too much of a woman’s body.
Under Kannywood’s religious restrictions, actresses can also fall foul of the censors, and conservative family expectations. For rising star Amina Shehu, choosing to act has meant losing her family’s support.
Yet in southern Nigeria’s booming Nollywood, women are box office powerhouses, though they too say success demands relentless resilience in a male-dominated culture.
Director: Stefania Buonajuti
Picture Editor: Einav Leshetz
Series Producer: Andy Lee
Executive Producer: Ed Fraser
Production Company: Channel 4 News
Subscribe to our channel for more Unreported World episodes https://www.youtube.com/unreportedworld.
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0:00 Introduction
1:10 On a Kannywood film set
3:01 Censorship and religious scrutiny on Kannywood
6:46 Being a female Muslim actress
9:06 Editing a controversial film scene
10:40 Banned after a social media post
11:43 Inspiring young girls to act
13:03 Facing the censorship board
16:05 Meeting the head of the censorship board
17:54 Meeting the stars of Nollywood
21:07 Meeting Mansurah’s family
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Subscribe to our channel for more Unreported World episodes https://www.youtube.com/unreportedworld.
00:23:45
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The acting is absolutely superb 👀
Allah is weak he scared women acting
what a beautiful and tolerant culture. Let's bring more of them to the UK!
This video perfectly captures one of my biggest frustrations with northern Nigeria: too often, we are the ones limiting ourselves.
Kannywood should be one of the strongest cultural engines in the country. We have history, politics, folklore, satire, family drama, social commentary, and rich heritage to draw from. We have more than enough stories to tell. But when censorship becomes rigid, moralistic, and hostile to creativity, it does not protect society, it shrinks it.
A censorship board should be balanced and thoughtful, not made up in a way that only shuts things down. Regulation should create boundaries without suffocating imagination. Give alternatives. Allow writers and filmmakers room to be creative without crossing clear lines. That is how an industry grows.
This is also why the wider world keeps seeing the North through such a narrow lens. If we do not tell our own stories with confidence, complexity, and ambition, we leave ourselves trapped inside a bubble of fear and self-censorship. And that does real damage, not just culturally, but economically too.
The film industry can create jobs, revenue, tourism, and soft power. Governments everywhere understand this. Hollywood is not just entertainment, it is influence. Nigeria should be thinking the same way, and northern leaders should stop treating film as a threat and start seeing it as an asset.
Freedom of expression matters. When theocracy becomes too rigid, society suffers. Media can help challenge toxic perceptions, bridge divides, and move people forward. Instead, we keep acting like creativity itself is dangerous.
And to the actors, actresses, and filmmakers: keep pushing. Be smart, be inventive, find the gaps, and tell the stories anyway. Not every great story needs romance or sex. There is suspense, politics, mystery, history, betrayal, faith, corruption, community, and survival. We are not short of material. We are short of courage and vision.
Kannywood does not have to remain stuck in the past. It can evolve, compete, and speak to the world. But that will only happen when we stop fearing art and start investing in it.
Nobody gives af about this. Why not show nigerias genocide happening right now.
Mensurah, we have heard your story. Keep pushing, keep fighting. The end might look out of sight. However, posterity will remember you and your legacy will live on.