THE 6th edition of African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held last recently in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria saw Kunle Afolayan’s movie The Figurine emerged the top winner of the night, claiming all of five awards. However, Afolayan, who only yesterday returned from the New York African Film Festival to attend the event, did not get the coveted Best Director Award. Ghana’s Shirley Frimpong-Manso, director of The Perfect Picture clinched the award. Ramsey Nouah, who’s away in the US,  missed the event, but was able to give his acceptance speech (for winning Best Actor in a leading role) after Kunle Afolayan placed a call to his mobile phone and placed the phone on speaker.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

AMAA BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADINGROLE: JACKIE APIA (PERFECT PICTURE)

By David Ajiboye

Malawian top actress, Flora Suya, is a top contender in this year’s Best Actress category at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), scheduled to take place on Saturday,  April 10, in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. Suya’s role in the movie, Season of a Life, earned her the nomination, alongside other A-list actresses like Ghanaian Jackie Appiah, Lydia Forson, Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku, Stephanie Okereke and Bimbo Akintola, who just got her first nomination at AMAA for her excellent performance in the movie Bond and Fred Amata’s Freedom in Chain.

The chairman of College of Screeners, Mr. Shuaib Hussein said that Flora Suya might be the revelation AMAA has thrown up this year, adding that the award was fulfilling its mission and set objectives, as other African countries were coming out strongly in the business of film making.
“Flora Suya’s role in Season of a Life is superlative.  She is a complete talent that will go places in her acting career.  It is also a wake up call and challenge for our top actors and actresses to up their games. Nominations for awards anywhere in the world is a function of quality of work, professionalism and not whether anybody is an A-list star or not,” said Hussein.

Hussein also said the entries received from  North African countries, with Algeria and Egypt as strong contenders in the Best Animation category continued to attest to the popularity and acceptability of AMAA as the most respected recognition platform for the film industry in Africa.
Kunle Afolayan’s Figurine and Izu Chukwu’s Nnenda and The Child,  were among 30 films that made the nominations for this year’s African Movie Academy Awards, out of the over 280 entries received across Africa.

At a colorful nominations party held at Mensvic Hotel, East Legion, Accra, Ghana last Saturday, the nominations were announced by Hussein, chairman of College of Screeners.

In the Best Actor’s category are Ramsey Nouah, Lucky Ejim, Majid Michael, Odera Ozoka and John Osie Tutu, for their roles in The Tenant, Sin of a Soul, The Figurine, Soul Diaspora and I Sing of a Well.

Kunle Afolayan, Shemu Joyah, Shirley Frimpong, Leilla Jewel Djansi, Jude Idada and Lucky Ejim will slug it out in the Best Director category.  At the star-studded nominations party in Ghana included Mr. Richard Mofe-Damijo, Delta State Commissioner for Tourism and Culture; Rita Dominic, Segun Arinze, Osita Iheme, Paul Obazele, Ejike Asiegbu, Dickson Iruegbu, Kunle Afolayan, Steve Ayorinde, Muma Gee, J. Martins, among others.

Mr. Emeka Mba,Director General Nigeria Films and Video Censors Board(NFVCB) delivering his address at the African Film/Television Programmes Expo held in Abuja.

Some dignitaries rendering the national anthem at the event

Nollywood Actor,Francids Duru making a remark at the event.

Oba Dosumu,the traditional ruler of Owu Kingdom presenting an award to top Nollywood producer.

More pix from the Event

More pix from the event.

More pix from the event

More pix from the event

BY DAVID AJIBOYE

If it were to be in a sane atmosphere, several members of the Association of Nigerian Theater Practitioners (ANTP) will have to adopt several methods to apologize to their numerous fans for their shameless acts during the botched national election of the association held at Ibadan last week.

Some members of the association had thrown caution to the wind and hurled abuses at each other, which degenerated into a level that the electoral officers had to invite mobile policemen to  bring the situation under control.

outgoing president,Jide Kosoko

Far from being a movie location, the scene looked more  like an assemblage of touts who had gathered enmasse at the venue of the election to cause public disturbance.

The scene was charged, the atmosphere tense and no one needed a soothsayer to tell him or her that trouble was lurking around.

Expectedly, factions loyal to the two presidential candidates, Messrs Dele Odule and Victor Ashaolu, threw caution to the wind in an election that was supposed to be  peacefully conducted.

Signs that trouble was imminent came to the fore when Chief ‘Lere Paimo (Eda) was booed and almost lynched by a group of members of the association, alleging that he and some other elders were the cause of the problems in the association.

Chief Paimo had to tactically leave the venue when it became apparent that his safety was no longer guaranteed, especially, with the level of indiscipline exhibited by the aggrieved members.

Trouble actually began when delegates from Lagos State, 18 of them, were threatened to be disqualified  by the chairman of the electoral committee, Comrade Kola Olaiya, who informed the delegates that they  were not eligible to participate, following a court injunction against the Lagos chapter.

In a swift reaction, the delegates regrouped and vowed to disrupt the election unless the committee rescinded its decision. This development made the electoral committee to call for security backup from the Yemetu police station.

The presence of the mobile policemen, notwithstanding, the factions  started throwing stones, pebbles and dangerous weapons, a show of their readiness for a full war when the electoral committee decided to postpone the election indefinitely.

The presence of the former president of the association, Prince Jide Kosoko, did not make any difference either. Rather, he ran for dear life when he heard that he had been marked as one of the elders to be attacked.

Dele Odule, one of the  candidates, was seen calming down his supporters, admonishing them to abide by the decision of the electoral committee, pending the time his campaign team would meet on the next step to be taken on the situation.

Odule, who arrived at the venue of the election in a Nissan Murano SUV marked DOA 3, remained calm as the events unfolded.

Victor Ashaolu, the other candidate was accused of taken the association to court for nine years, among other allegations.

His “sins”, according to the aggrieved opponent, included his hobnobbing with some elders  to destabilize the association, while his case against ANTP lasted in court. They named Chiefs Jimoh Aliu, Lere Paimo and others as co-travelers in that direction.

Chief Jimoh Aliu, however, later in an interview with journalists, said that what happened was a re-enactment of the Law of Karma “because he did similar thing few years ago before he took the association to court”.

Meanwhile, the electoral committee has announced Alhaji Kareem Adepoju (Baba Wande) as the chairman of a five-man caretaker committee pending the election of a new executive.