black titanic 87particularly close to the Holly wood template.^1 The Nigerian video film-
makers literally hard-copied a number of sequences from Cameron’s movie
and spliced them into their own video. This physical appropriation of orig-
inal film material (from dvd) has to be seen as a creative device born of
necessity; images of a foundering ocean liner would otherwise have been
impossible to realize in northern Nigeria, where the average budget of a
video film is less than the equivalent of 2,000 U.S. dollars. Ashu-Brown
chose from among Cameron’s Titanic wide-angle sequences—the passing
ship, the boiler room, some of the sinking scenes—and combined these
with indoor sequences shot from medium or close range in a Nigerian
hotel. This gimmick not only proved useful in overcoming budgetary con-
straints but also aided in swapping out Cameron’s passengers and crew.
Because the all-white cast is almost invisible in the wide-angle shots, the
ship could take on Masoyiyata’s all-African cast. Ashu-Brown’s Titanic is
therefore reborn as a Nigerian ship on its maiden voyage from Lagos to
America. Despite the ship’s change of course, the basic constellations of
the plot remain the same. Aboard the vessel sailing toward its ultimate
fate are Binta, Abdul, and Binta’s fiancé, Zay yad—the Nigerian equiva-
lents of Rose, Jack, and Caledon. Their ulterior motives, however, as well
as the filmic articulation of these differ considerably from Cameron’s
“original copy.”^2
Masoyiyata displays several features typical of Hausa video films. Such
movies are the products of Kany wood, one of Nigeria’s regional video film
industries, named after Kano, the commercial center of Nigeria’s Hau-
saphone Muslim north and heart of this prolific video industry (which I
explore in greater detail in chapter 4). Masoyiyata was shot in Hausa. The
English subtitles, however, which were uncommon for Hausa videos at
the time, suggest that Ashu-Brown had a broader audience in mind. The
cast includes several prominent Hausa actors. The late Ahmed S. Nuhu,
who was then one of Kany wood’s most popular actors, plays Abdul, the
Nigerian equivalent to Jack. The female lead, Binta, however, is played by
newcomer Sadiya Abdu Rano; her fiancé, Zay yad, is portrayed by director
Farouk Ashu-Brown himself, a newcomer as well. The two most promi-
nent features that turn Masoyiyata into a Hausa video are its plot—built
around the topic of arranged marriage and a girl’s attempt to evade it—
and the particular mise-en-scéne of song-and-dance intended to ratchet
up a sense of the romantic.