Ghana was unlucky at this year’s Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA). It was almost a “No Show” in the number of awards received at the event which came off at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday.
Though Ghana had eight nominations in the categories of Best Movie (Silver Rain), Best Costume Designer (Silver Rain), Best Actor in a Comedy (Majid Michel), Best Picture Editor( Shirley Frimpong Manso) and Best Actress for Comedy, Ghana could only boast of one award, a Frimpong-Manso movie, #Rebecca.
The win must have been the saviour of the day as the Ghanaian team watched on as their Nigerian colleagues, mostly, mounted the stage time and again to pick the awards on the night.
Though it was her first nomination at the Awards, Ghanaian actress, producer and director, Juliet Asante, would have inked her name as one of the new producers to watch out for on the continent. She may have come home empty handed but her movie, Silver Rain competed for the biggest award on the night, Best Movie in Africa. She was knocked off by Stephanie Linus’s movie, Dry.
As the big winner, Stephanie, whose movie explores the vulnerability of young girls and the need to save them from child marriage pledged the use of her resources to campaign for the freedom of the young child.
Other winners included Genevieve Nnaji whose movie Road to Yesterday, won the Best Movie for West Africa. She shared the glory with her co-producers Chinny Onwugbenu and Chichi Nwoko.
Two other big awards on the night were Best Actress and Comedy and Best Actor in a Comedy which were respectively won by Funke Akindele for Jenifa’s Diary and Folarin Falana also for Jenifa’s Diary.
There was an element of surprise when one of Nigeria’s new actresses, Adesua Etomi won the Best Actress, Drama for her role in Falling when she beat the likes of Genevieve Nnaji to it. Similarly, Daniel K. Daniel was the “man of the moment” when he beat strong contenders such as Mike Ezuruonye and Ramsey Nouah to take home the award for Best Actor, Drama with his role in A Soldier’s Story.
For Best local language, Swahili, it went to Kitendawali. Dauda Kowa beat its other contenders to win the Best local movie in Hausa and Usekwu for Best local language, Igbo.
The awards ceremony also served as the platform to celebrate some of the legends in the African Movie Industry and this year, the honours were bestowed on Nigerian actress, Bukki Ajayi and Sadiq Daba, also of Nigeria. Kemi Lala Akindoju was also honoured with the Trailblazer Award for her immense contribution to the African movie industry.
It was not just a night on which excellence in Africa film and Television was rewarded, but also a night to demonstrate true fashion. The venue of the star-studded event was virtually turned into a fashion hub.
At the well-attended event which also exuded elegance and glamour, patrons were treated to performances from Tanzania’s Alikibi, South Africa’s Zonke and Yemi Alade. Nigerian highlife artiste, Flavour, rocked the auditorium with his popular Ada song.
At about 4:00 pm, the Red Carpet business was in full swing and the proper event started at the advertised time of 7:00 pm. The two and half hours which was properly manned by Nigeria’s IK Osakioduwa and South Africa’s Minie Dlamini came to an end at 9: 30 pm which gave revelers plenty time to rock themselves at the After Party which was held at another location within the Eko Hotels.
The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards is an initiative of Africa Magic. This year’s edition which was the fourth was sponsored by Amstel Malta. According to the organisers, the scheme is aimed at celebrating the contribution of African Film makers, actors and technicians to the success of the continent’s film and television industry.
Source: Graphic Showbiz