NIGERIA, SOUTH AFRICA lead Africa in AMAA 2012 Nominations, Lagos to Host award

Nigeria’s Adesuwa, South Africa’s Otelo Burning and How to Steal 2 Million won the most nominations for the 2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards scheduled to hold in Lagos on April 22nd, 2012. At the nomination event which took place at the Kamaira Beach Hotel, Banjul, Gambia on Saturday the award’s Jury announced the nominations into the 24 categories to a glamorous audience which include movie actors and actresses from Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and other celebrities that converged on the capital city of Gambia.

Nigeria received 52 nominations for the Africa’s most prestigious awards for filmmakers. South Africa was first runner up with 45 nominations, followed by Ghana with 17, Kenya with 14, Uganda with 5, Tanzania with 3, and Algeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.

There were also nominations for the Diaspora entries from America, Canada, France, Germany, Guadalupe, Italy, Jamaica, and the UK. AMAA received 328 entries from across Africa, up from 220 in 2011. This includes 134 feature films, 88 short films, 57 documentaries and six animations. 43 entries came from Africans in the Diaspora, with the other entries coming from 23 countries across the continent.

South African surfing film Otelo Burning scooped the most nominees (13), followed closely by South African film How to Steal 2 Million (11) and Nigeria’s Benin-set historical epic Adesuwa (10). Ghana’s civil war film Somewhere in Africahas seven nominations, as does the Nigerian-South African xenophobia-themed co-production Man on Ground, while Kenya’s Rugged Priest has six.

Dr. Asantewa Olantunji, director of programming of The Pan African Film Festival, headed this year’s jury, which included June Giavanni, programmer for Planet Africa at The Toronto International Film Festival; Keith Shiri, founder and film curator at the London festival, Africa at The Pictures; Dorothee Wenner, a curator at The Berlin Film Festival; Shaibu Husseini, an actor, dancer and The Nigerian Guardian arts journalist; Steve Ayorinde, editor-in-chief of The Daily Mirror; Ayoko Babu, executive director of The Pan African Film Festival; Dr. Hyginus Ekwuazi, a film scholar and critic; and directors Berni Goldblat and John Akomfrah, OBE. Only films produced and released between December 2010 and December 2011 were eligible.

The winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony on 22 April 2012, hosted by Heroes star Jimmy Jean-Louis. For the first time, the awards will be held in Lagos rather than Bayelsa in Nigeria.

“Our theme this year is Africa Rising,” says founder Peace Anyiam-Osigwe. “Africa’s economies are consistently growing faster than those of almost any other region of the world and our film industries are following suit. With the success of last year’s AMAA winner, Viva Riva!, all of a sudden there’s this great excitement about the potential of the African film industry, which is clearly demonstrated in this year’s diverse nominees.”

AMAA 2012 NOMINATION LIST

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST SHORT FILM
2. JAMAA – UGANDA
3. LOOK AGAIN – KENYA
4. MAFFE TIGA – GUINEA
5. BRAIDS ON BALD HEAD – NIGERIA
6. HIDDEN LIFE – SOUTH AFRICA
7. MWANSA THE GREAT – ZIMBABWE
8. CHUMO – TANZANIA
9. THE YOUNG SMOKER – NIGERIA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
1. AFRICAN ELECTION – NIGERIA/GERMANY
2. BEYOND THE DEADLY PIT – RWANDA
3. AWA OGBE: AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE – ALGERIA
4. DEAR MANDELLA – SOUTH AFRICA
5. WHITE& BLACK; CRIME AND COLOUR – TANZANIA
6. THE NIGER DELTA STRUGGLE – GHANA
7. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY UNCLE –NIGERIA
8. HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH – KENYA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST DIASPORA FEATURE
1. TOUSSANAT LOUVERTURE -FRANCE
2. GHETTA LIFE -JAMAICA
3. HIGH CHICAGO – CANADA
4. ELZA -GUADELUPE
5. BETTER MUST COME – JAMAICA
6. KINYANRWANDA – USA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST DIASPORA DOCUMENTARY
1. THE EDUCATION OF AUMA OBAMA – GERMANY
2. WHITE WASH – USA
3. ALMENDRON MI CORAZON – GUADELUPE
4. ALL ME: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WINFRED HUBERT -USA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST DIASPORA (SHORT FILM)
1. JOHN DOE – USA
2. WHITE SUGAR IN A BLACK POT -USA
3. THE LOST ONE -USA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST ANIMATION
1. THE LEGEND OF NGOG HILLS- (KENYA)
2. OBA – (NIGERIA)
3. CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL – (KENYA)
4. EGU – (SOUTH AFRICA)
5. CHOMOKA- (KENYA)

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST FILM BY AN AFRICAN LIVING ABROAD
1. MYSTERY OF BIRDS – USA/NIGERIA
2. HOUSEMATES – UK/NIGERIA
3. BEN KROSS – ITALY/NIGERIA
4. PAPAREZZI EYE IN THE DARK – USA/NIGERIA/GHANA

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
1. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA-Ghana
2. PHONE SWAP -Nigeria
3. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
4. ADESUWA-Nigeria
5. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
1. THE CAPTAIN OF NAKARA-
2. ADESUWA-Nigeria
3. RUGGED PRIEST -Kenya
4. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA-Ghana
5. QUEENS DESIRE

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP
1. RUGGED PRIEST _Kenya
2. STATE RESEARCH BUREAU-Uganda
3. ADESUWA-Nigeria
4. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA-Ghana
5. SHATTERED -Kenya

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUNDTRACK
1. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
2. ALERO’S SYMPHONY -Nigeria
3. ADESUWA-Nigeria
4. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa
5. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA-Ghana

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
1. BEHIND THE MASK
2. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA-Ghana
3. ADESUWA-Nigeria
4. STATE RESEARCH BUREAU-Uganda
5. OTELO BURNING –South Africa

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
1. STATE OF VIOLENCE –South Africa
2. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
3. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa
4. MAN ON GROUND-South Africa
5. ALGIERS MURDER-South Africa

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa
2. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
3. RUGGED PRIEST -Kenya
4. MASQUERADES -Ghana
5. MAN ON GROUND –South Africa/Nigeria

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
1. ALGIERS MURDER-South Africa
2. MAN ON GROUND-South Africa/Nigeria
3. UNWANTED GUEST -Nigeria
4. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa
5. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
6. ALERO’S SYMPHONY -Nigeria

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SCREENPLAY
1. TIES THAT BIND-Ghana
2. MR & MRS-Nigeria
3. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION-South Africa
4. OTELO BURNING –South Africa
5. UNWANTED GUEST -Nigeria
6. TWO BRIDES AND A BABY-Nigeria

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST NIGERIAN FILM
1. UNWANTED GUEST -Nigeria
2. FAMILY ON FIRE-Nigeria
3. ALERO’S SYMPHONY
4. ADESUWA
5. PHONE SWAP

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST FILM IN AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE
1. CHUMO (TANZANIA)
2. STATE OF VIOLENCE (SOUTH AFRICA)
3. FAMILY ON FIRE (NIGERIA)
4. OTELO BURNING (SOUTH AFRICA)
5. ASONI (CAMEROUN)

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST CHILD ACTOR
1. RAHMAN JUNIOR BANDE (GREG) –BEHIND THE MASK
2. TSEPANG MOHLOMI (NTWE) – OTELO BURNING
3. REGINNA DANIES (JENNY) – BANK JOB
5. BENJAMIN ABEMIGISHA & RACHEAL NDUHUKIRE (DERICK AND MARGARET) – JAMAA
6. AYINLA O. ABDULAHEEM – ZR-7

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST YOUNG/PROMISING ACTOR
1. NEO NTATLENO (OJ) – STATE OF VIOLENCE
2. IVIE OKUJAYE (ALERO) – ALERO’S SYMPHONY
3. IYOBOSA OLAYE (ADESUWA) – ADESUWA
4. MARTHA ANKOMAH – SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA
5. THOMAS GUMEDE & SIHLE XABA – OTELO BURNING

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1. RAPULDNA SEIPHEMO (TWALA) – HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION
2. FANO MOKOENA – MAN ON GROUND
3. HAFIZ OYETORO – PHONE SWAP
4. OKECHUKWU UZOESI – TWO BRIDES AND A BABY
5. GODFREY THEOBEJANE – 48
6. LWANDA JAWAR – RUGGED PRIEST

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1. TERRY PHETTO – HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION
2. EBBE BASSEY – TIES THAT BIND
3. EMPRESS NJAMAH – BANK JOB
4. NGOZI EZEONU – ADESUWA
5. THELMA OKODUWA – MR & MRS
6. OMOTOLA JALADE EKEINDE – TIES THAT BIND

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1. MENZI NGUBANE – HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION
2. MAJID MICHEAL – SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA
3. CHET ANEKWE – UNWANTED GUEST
4. JAFTA MAMABOLO – OTELO BURNING
5. KARABO LANCE – 48
6. WALE OJO – PHONE SWAP
7. HAKEEM KAE-KAZIM – MAN ON GROUND

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1. NSE IKPE ETIM – MR & MRS
2. YVONNE OKORO – SINGLE SIX
3. AMA K. ABEBRESE – TIES THAT BIND
4. RITA DOMINIC – SHATTERED
5. UCHE JOMBO – DAMAGE
6. MILLICENT MAKHEIDO – 48
7. KUDZAI SEVENZO-NYARAI – PLAYING WARRIORS

AMAA 2012 PRIZE FOR BEST DIRECTOR
1. ADESUWA – LANCELOT ODUWA IMASEUN
2. TIES THAT BIND – LEILA DJANSI
3. RUGGED PRIEST- BOB NYANJA
4. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION – CHARLIE VUNDLA
5. STATE OF VIOLENCE – KHALO MATABANE
6. MAN ON GROUND – AKIN OMOTOSO
7. OTELO BURNING – SARA BLETCHER

AMAA 2011 PRIZE FOR BEST FILM
1. STATE OF VIOLENCE (SOUTH AFRICA)
2. ADESUWA (NIGERIA)
3. OTELO BURNING – (SOUTH AFRICA)
4. RUGGED PRIEST (KENYA)
5. HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION (SOUTH AFRICA)
6. TIES THAT BIND (GHANA)
7. MAN ON GROUND ( SOUTH AFRICA/NIGERIA)