Shaihu Umar

This important work of Nigerian cinema was long thought to be lost, but in 2016 negatives and prints of the film were found in the archive of the Nigerian Film Corporation. Arsenal Filminstitut restored the film, which was shown at the 2018 Berlinale Forum. Shaihu Umar, set in northern Nigeria at the end of the nineteenth century, is based on the eponymous novella by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who would later become the first prime minister of independent Nigeria. It starts with a discussion between students and their respected teacher, the Islamic scholar Shaihu Umar, who tells them about his modest background and many trials and tribulations, including slavery.