African Movie Academy Awards unites continet through cinema
What started as a leisure industry, stories and jokes being told in motion pictures, has now transformed into a strong weapon for strengthening African peace and unity.
Under the theme ”Promoting peace through entertainment”, Africa’s most prestigious award ceremony, the 12th edition of African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) took place at Port Harcourt in Nigeria on Saturday.
Attracting people from all walks of life from across Africa, delegates and nominees flocked to Port Harcourt which has now been branded “Nigeria’s entertainment hub”.
When it was all said and done, Sekou Toure’s “Eye of the storm” from Burkina Faso walked away with the grand accolade, winning the AMAA 2016 Best Film Award.
“Eye of the storm” competed against Ghana’s “The cursed one”, Nigeria’s “Fifty” and “Dry”, South Africa’s “Ayanda” and “Tell me sweet something” and Niger’s “La Pagne” while Nana Obiri Yeboah won Best Director for the movie “The cursed one”.
Legendary actors and Nollywood’s number one couple Mr. Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva were honored with Life Time Achievement Awards.
Speaking to the press, Mr. Jacobs applauded the AMAAs for consistency and promoting Africa unity and peace.
“We were there at the beginning of these awards. We have been following and we love the consistency,” said Mr. Jacobs.
According to the awards jury, the academy received more than 480 movie submissions and only 65 movies were considered with the exception of Malawi.
The academy’s jury commended the strong presence of women in front and off camera, the increased number of movie genres and improvement in cinematography.
However, the academy decried the inadequate entries of children movies which are the future of the industry.
According to media reports, Malawian movie makers did not submit their productions on time.
In the previous awards, Malawi’s Flora Suya and Agoloso have won AMAA accolades with other films like B’ella getting nominations.
In 2013, the nomination ceremony took place in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Among others, Zambia’s Mark Zulu, Ghana’s Dancehall artist Rashid and Nigeria’s Kcee performed at this year’s event.
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