Nigerians continue to dominate the international entertainment industry, stunning at the just concluded Africa Movie Academy Awards with a total of eight awards won.
The awards ceremony was graced by the Legendary King Sunny Ade who pulled off a scintillating performance. Other performing Nigerian artists in attendance include P-Square, Choc City’s Young Jon and Candy Bleakz, Zadok and Yinka Davies.
The 2022 edition of the awards was held at the Jewel Aeida Hall, Lekki, Lagos, and hosted by Funnybone, Chigul, and Kachi Offia. With numerous nominees from different parts of Africa, the Tanzanian Tug of War and South Africa’s Surviving Gaza ranked after Nigeria with four awards each, while Borga, the film shot by a German director in Ghana came next with three awards.
Nigerian nominees dazzled the show, carting away eight awards. The winning movies include Bolanle Austen Peters’ Man of God with two awards, Kunle Afolayan’s Swallow with two awards, Tope Oshin’s Here Love Lies with one award, Tunde Aina’s Underbelly with one award, Ogo Okpue’s A Song from the Dark with one award and Walter Banger’s Jolly Roger. The documentary, No U Turn directed by Ike Nnaebue also won best documentary at the awards.
Ijeoma Grace Agu (Swallow) was awarded best actress in a supporting role, while Bolanle Austen Peters’ Man of God won best costume and best Nigerian film at the AMAA’s ceremony. Tope Oshin’s Here Love Lies was declared best film by an African-born director living abroad, Underbelly, produced by Tunde Aina cliched the award for best achievement in product design and Bolanle Austen Peters’ Man of God received the awards for best achievement in costume design and the National Film And Video Censors Board (NFVB) Award For Best Nigerian Film. Walter Banger’s Jolly Roger also received the 2022 award for achievement in editing.
The jury was led by Keith Shiri, Shaibu Husseini, Steve Ayorinde and included several film practitioners like Richard Mofe Damijo, Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, Idowu Phillips, Bimbo Manuel, Jennifer Eliogu, David Akande, Dickson Iroegbu, Wole Ojo, Daniel K. Daniel, Enyinna Nwigwe, Deyemi Okanlawon, Yemi Blaq, Osas Ighodaro, Denrele Edun, Sola Fajobi, Tony Akposeri, Osita Iheme, among several others.
Other films that won different categories include Somalia and Kenya’s Ayaanle, Astel from Senegal, Uganda’s No Way Out and Tembele, Contraband and Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story from USA and Peru’s The Rumba King.
Speaking at the event, the founder of AMAA and Chief Executive Officer of the African Film Academy praised African filmmakers for embracing more collaborations to encourage the growth of the African film industry. She emphasized on the importance of African filmmakers uniting to chart a pathway for African leaders in supporting the creative sector.