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AMAA revs up Lagos as stars come to town

By Chuks Nwanne
26 October 2019   |   3:06 am
Lagos, the entertainment capital of Africa, will come alive tomorrow for the 2019 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). Already, celebrities and stakeholders in the motion picture industries from across the continent are currently in the country to be part of the 15th edition of the award that celebrates outstanding achievements in film.

AMAA founder Peace Anyiam-Osigwe

Lagos, the entertainment capital of Africa, will come alive tomorrow for the 2019 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). Already, celebrities and stakeholders in the motion picture industries from across the continent are currently in the country to be part of the 15th edition of the award that celebrates outstanding achievements in film.

Speaking at a media parley held recently in Lagos, founder of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, who revealed that about 700 films were submitted for this year’s edition, said the team is ready to host the continental showpiece.

“15 years of AMAA has been a journey for us; the films keep getting better and the competition keeps getting harder. There is no frontrunner on the continent because the films are all great projects and we are looking at welcoming the world to the 15th edition.”

Giving details of the movies up for awards, the filmmaker explained, “I can’t give you a specific figure but the jury told me that we have over 700 submissions this year; I think over 100 nominees and 26 different categories. We had some categories that were endowed by some organisations like the NFVCB Best Nigerian Film,” she said.

While Steve Ayorinde returns as the Head of the governing council for the 5th year, while Shaibu Husseini remains the Head, College of Screeners, with Asantewa Olatunji as the Chairman of the Africa Movies Academy Award, organisers have unveiled a comedian, a broadcaster and an actress as hosts for this year’s ceremony holding at the Landmark Events Centre, Oniru, Lagos.

“Comedian Funnybone, Kemi Lala Akindoju, and Lorenzo Menakaya will be co-hosting the show this year. I’m sure they will do an exciting job,” she said.

AMAA is Africa’s oldest and biggest academy award for films. It is presented annually to recognise excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry.

Meanwhile, Nigeria scored the most nominations with the Adekunle ‘Nodash’ Adejuyigbe-directed film The Delivery Boy scoring 12 nominations, while Kemi Adetiba-directed King of Boys pulled eight nominations.

Actors in The Delivery Boy, a film that explores the backstory of terrorists, earned nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jemima Osunde) and Promising Actor (Jammal Ibrahim). The film, produced by Something Unusual Studios with technical work by The Elite Film Team (TEFT), also snagged several production nominations, including nominations for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Sound, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Editing and

Best Achievement in Screenplay.

Other nominations are Best Nigerian Film, Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Film while Adejuyigbe got nominated for Best Director alongside Kemi Adetiba for King of Boys.

On its part, Adetiba’s 2018 thriller earned Adesua Etomi-Wellington a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and musician, Reminisce got Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The movie was also nominated for Best Film, Best Achievement in Visual Effects and Best Achievement in Costume Design.

Other Nigerian films nominated include Up North, Beverly Naya’s anti-skin bleaching documentary, Skin, Lara and the Beat, Hello Rain, Make Room and Light in the Dark.

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