The AMVCA Needs New Ideas

The 11th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards has come and gone. As with previous editions, the event, set in the heart of Africa’s entertainment capital, Lagos, was abuzz with music, fashion showdown and other fun-filled activities. But the gala night also left behind a trail of surprises and dashed expectations.

Right from when the nominations list was announced about two months ago, the show had skipped another opportunity to spotlight some of the best narratives of the previous year. Films missing in action included Korede Azeez’s With Difficulty Comes Ease, a story that navigates a widow’s complex social and religious identities; Courage Obayuwana’s Kill Boro, which is set against the backdrop of Niger-Delta militant crisis; Seun Richards’s At Ease, which dissects a war veteran’s battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; and Moyinoluwa Ezekiel’s The Beads which uses the time loop technique. To be fair, these omissions are most likely no fault of the show organizers. For this edition, the entry guidelines were clear, so a filmmaker who did not submit their work simply stood no chance. An entrant who failed to strictly follow submission rules would also have been disqualified.

As part of efforts towards recognizing and honoring behind-the-scenes professionals for their technical excellence, this year’s AMVCA introduced the Best Sound and Sound Design, and Best Original Score and Music as separate categories—as opposed to having only the Best Sound Design category. The winners were Michael Botha and Olaosebikan Okonrende for Suspicion, and Tolu Obanro for Seven Doors, respectively. But these developments were unable to compensate for the obvious lapses that rocked the just-concluded show, from organizational concerns to questionable award winners and the obscurity around the Trailblazer Award category.

Only a few African countries shone at the 11th AMVCA, with Nigeria producing winners in multiple categories, South Africa carting away awards in Best Cinematography and Best Editing, Kenya getting away with wins in Best Writing In a TV Series and Best Indigenous Language (East Africa), Zambia winning the Best Indigenous Language (Southern Africa), and Ghanaian talent earning recognition at the event. For an umpteenth time, as observed over the years, African cinema was myopically represented, giving room to more cynicism over the authenticity of the show.

Going forward, the AMVCA needs to broaden its scope to accommodate film and television productions from Northern and Central African countries. The Egyptian and Tunisian film industries are among the oldest in the world. An Akoroko report ranked the Egyptian film Welad Rizk 3 as the highest-grossing African theatrical release of 2024 with a total of $8.4 million in box office revenue, closely followed by five other Egyptian films, a Moroccan, French & Belgian co-production Everybody Loves Touda ($1,370,693—100% from France), and Nigerian film Everybody Loves Jenifa ($1.26 million). These six Egyptian titles make a bold statement on the country’s efflorescent film industry and standing in Africa. As such, cinema productions from these regions duly deserve to be included in AMVCA conversations.

To achieve this inclusiveness, the organisers must first make meaningful collaborations and partnerships with filmmakers and media stakeholders from these sidelined regions. This breadth of coverage can be deepened with the introduction of Best Indigenous Language (North Africa) and Best Indigenous Language (Central Africa) categories to spotlight their unique traditions and worldviews. The nominations list for major categories, such as the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, must be made to feature outstanding individual talents from the neglected African regions. By extension, the annual Nigeria-based Awards show, already made available to all Africa Magic channels, should be broadcast in more terrestrial stations in a variety of widely spoken languages across Africa, including foreign languages like French, Arabic and Portuguese and indigenous languages like Swahili, Hausa, Amharic and the Berber languages.

In the spirit of further positioning and celebrating African cinema beyond the continent, there is a need to open AMVCA categories for an excellent complex range of films representing Africa and its diaspora relations. This should include African stories filmed outside the continent by Africans (for instance, Nnamdi Kanaga’s Water Girl), and Africa-based stories filmed on the continent and anchored by non-Africans (such as Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King and forthcoming Children Of Blood and Bone). Not only will broadening the scope of the AMVCA encourage cross-cultural and intercontinental Afrocentric storytelling and collaborations, but it will also cement the legacy of the show as a premier platform for African cinema.