Africa’s finest producers and artistes converged on Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for the glamorous 10th edition of the African Movie Academy Awards last weekend.
THAT South African film noir, ‘Of Good Report’ excelled at the 10th African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held last weekend in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State did not come as a surprise to movie buffs.
Apart
from the fact that it had the highest number of nominations (13), its
antecedent at international film festivals and awards it had previously
won all indicated that it was going to carry the day at Yenagoa.
Expectedly,
it did, winning five major prizes including the Best Film, Best Screen
play, Best Director, Best Young Promising Actor and Best Actor.
About a high school teacher
who becomes obsessed with a 16-year-old female student, the film
created a buzz both in South Africa and internationally with some
critics hailing its brilliance while others condemned its dark nature.
But
apart from Jahmil X.T. Qubeka’s third feature film, three other South
African movies, ‘The Forgotten Kingdom’, ‘Khumba’ and ‘Felix’ also
registered their presence on the winners list. ‘The Forgotten Kingdom’
won the Achievement in Cinematography and Achievement in Sound prizes,
‘Khumba’ took Best Animation and Thapelo Mofekeng won the Best Actor in a
Supporting Role for ‘Felix’.
Similarly,
female Ghanaian producers, Leila Djansi and Shirley Frimpong Manso did
not go home empty handed. Manso’s ‘Potomanto’ won the AMAA Achievement
in Editing while Djansi’s ‘Northern Affair’ won the Achievement in
Production Design prize.
Nigeria’s
showing at the ceremony was somehow reminiscent of 2009 when the
country’s movies trailed Kenyan film ‘From a Whisper’. But there were
some bright spots for the country this time around as Clarion Chukwura
won Best Actress for her role in ‘Apaye’, Patience Ozokwor won Best Supporting Actress with ‘After The Proposal’ and ‘A Mile From Home’ won the Achievement in Visual Effects award.
Chika Anadu’s ‘B For Boy’ won Best Film for Women Empowerment,
Obi Emenloye’s Igbo film, ‘Onye Ozi’ won in the Achievement in
Soundtrack category while Bob Manuel-Udokwu was given a Recognition
Award.
Giddy entertainmentHappily
though, African cinema and filmmakers, whose promotion AMAA had
declared from inception was its primary goal, were the biggest winners
on the night. They all had their recognitions at the glamorous event
which also didn’t lack for entertainment.
Though
Congolese star, Fally Ipupa, failed to attend, nobody really missed him
as the Nigerian artistes on the bill gave good account of themselves.
Timi Dakolo, Keshe, Bez Idakula, J.Martins and Flavour as well as
comedians like Aproko, Funny Bone and Geebonz all entertained. The only
downside was that with the exception of Bez, all the other artistes sang
along to their CDs, thereby failing to justify organisers’ investment
in having Kingsley Ogoro deploy state of the art equipment.
Fittingly, the late filmmaker, Amaka Igwe, was remembered at the awards ceremony
with two standing ovations and a eulogy. When AMAA founder, Ms. Peace
Anyiam-Osigwe first came out to ask guests to observe a one minute
silence for the departed filmmaker; she ended up reciting an ode in
praise of Igwe. Later, one of the presenters of the show and former
Actors Guild of Nigeria president, Segun Arinze, asked the guests to
observe a minute silence for the late filmmaker.
Truce at last?Another
side attraction at the ceremony was how incumbent AGN president,
Ibinabo Fiberesima and Best Actress winner, Clarion Chukwura made peace.
The duo had been at loggerheads since Chukwura criticized Fiberesima’s
leadership of the AGN and there had been a lot of back and forth
between them. Interestingly, in the course of Chukwura’s acceptance
speech where she called for peace in Nollywood, Fiberisima was caught by
the television cameras nodding assent. As if to prove the authenticity
of the truce, a photograph of the duo smiling happily into the camera
later surfaced on social media.
Growth and improvementSpeeches, a permanent feature of AMAA nights, weren’t missing from this year’s edition. Director General, Bayelsa State Tourism Board,
Ebizi Ndioma-Brown, acknowledged the impact of AMAA on Bayelsa youths,
noting that it has kept them away from deviant activities. She disclosed
that some Bayelsa youths are now actors, actresses and directors and
there is a huge request to help many more produce their films. “We have a
lot of youths that wants to be useful and there has been a lot of
training available to them as a result of AMAA’s presence in Bayelsa,”
Ndioma-Brown said.
Deputy
Governor of Bayelsa, Gboribiogha John Jonah, who represented his
principal, Seriake Dickson, said the state continues to be associated
with AMAA because of its positive impacts on its economy. “We are
associated to AMAA because of its benefits to our economy and the movie
industry. It celebrates excellence in film industry and serve as a
springboard to show case the rich heritage and investment opportunities of the state,” Jonah said.
He
added that Bayelsa State aims for the growth of the youth, enlargement
of its cultural heritage and capacity building and that Nollywood is one
of the platforms to achieve this. “We will continue to encourage
Bayelsa youths to become role models and an association like this will
lead to job creation and life meaningful to the youths and the
government will continue to be a part of this symbiotic collaboration,”
he said.
In
her very passionate speech at the ceremony, Anyiam-Osigwe expressed
happiness at AMAA’s survival in spite of challenges: “The AMAAs has
survived against all odds, and those who have been closely associated
with AMAAs will bear testimonies to the struggles that we have been
through to come this far. As at date, the main challenges of funding and
financing subsist.”
She also expressed happiness at the impact of the awards, noting that AMAA has become a platform that projects Africa’s
film industry to Africa and the rest of the world. Reaching the 10th
anniversary, she added is a testimony to the resilience of human spirit
and determination.
“It
has been a journey of sheer determination, perseverance, staying power
and faith. These characteristics have been the driving force behind the
organization of the AMAAs. In spite of the many challenges in
preparation and spending, putting spanners in the works with respect to
management of logistics and overall delivery of events, the AMAAs is
still standing 10 years on,” she said.
What will Peace do next?The AMAA founder also seized the opportunity to inform guests of her next step. She stepped down as the chief executive officer
of the awards as she had disclosed earlier in the year and disclosed
that she would focus on growing grass root cinema across Africa. This,
she said, had already started in Uganda and Kenya with her partner from
234 Media. “For the last 10 years I have done the show, now I am going
to focus on the business,” she said but failed to name a successor into
her position.
Special
guest and Hollywood actor, Danny Glover, also lauded the growth of
AMAA, adding that there have been significant changes in the last 10
years in Bayelsa.
Though
the main awards ceremony in Yenagoa is over, organizers later disclosed
that activities for the 10th anniversary will continue throughout the
year. The People’s Choice Award and the Media Recognition Award will
happen later in the year.
Full list of winners:
Best Short Film – Dialemi
Best Animation – Khumba (South Africa)
Best Documentary – Hamu Beya (Mali) & Portraits of a Lone Farmer (Nigeria & Denmark)
Best Film (African Language) – B for Boy
Best Diaspora Short Film – Passage
Best Diaspora Documentary – Through The Lens Darkly (USA)
Best Diaspora Feature – Kingston Paradise (Jamaica)
Achievement In Production Design Award – Northern Affair (Ghana)
Achievement In Costume Design – Ni Sisi (Kenya)
Achievement In Make-up – Once Upon A Road Trip (South Africa)
Achievement in Soundtrack – Onye Ozi (Nigeria/UK)
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Clarion Chukwurah (Apaye)
Best Film – Of Good Report
Special Jury Prize for Short Film – New Horizon
Joyce Banda Award for Film on Women Empowerment – B For Boy
Madiba Award – Ni Sisi
Best Director – Jamil Quebeka (Of Good Report)
Best First Feature Film by a Director – Harikrishna & Sharvan Anenden
Special Recognition Prize – Bob Manuel-Udokwu
Best Actor – Mothusi Magano (Of Good Report)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Patience Ozokwor (After The Proposal)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Thapelo Mofekeng (Felix)
Best Young Promising Actor - Petronella Tshuma (Of Good Report)
Best Child Actor – Lebohang Ntsane (Forgotten Kingdom)
Best Nigerian Film – Accident
Achievement in Screenplay – Of Good Report
Achievement in Editing – Potomanto
Achievement in Cinematography – The Forgotten Kingdom
Achievement in Sound – The Forgotten Kingdom
Achievement in Visual Effects – A Mile From Home (Nigeria)
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