Kunle Afolayan’s October 1, Lancelot Imasuen’s Invasion 1897 and Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage are among the films to beat in Nigeria for now, following thier nomination in various categories of the 2015 African Movie Academy Awards.
At a nomination party held at Los Angeles, USA, on Saturday, AMAA shortlisted the three, alongside A Place in the Stars andIyore, for the Bayelsa State-endowed Best Nigerian Film Award category.
But Ayo Makun’s 30 Days in Atlanta, which had earlier done well in the cinema, also proved that it is a force to reckon with, having been nominated for the Best Comedy Award, alongside Iya Alalake andLast Three Digits.
According to a statement from the organisers, while October 1 is nominated in the Best Film in Production and Best Costume Design categories, Dazzling Mirage is also in the latter – thanks to Adebimpe Adebambo, who is the costume designer. Both films are battling with Run(Cote d’Voire), Njinga: Queen of Angola(Angola) and INumber Number (South Africa.)
Invasion 1897, Iyore and A Place in the Starsalso made it to the AMAA Award for Achievement in Make-up, Award for Achievement in Sound Track and Award for Achievement in Sound categories, respectively.
Curiously, the Yoruba film sub-sector, which used to do well in AMAA, takes the back seat this year as none of them is on the Best Film in African Language list, where Timbuktu (from Mauritania), Triangle Going to America (Ethiopia), Cheetanah (Nigeria), Juliet and Romeo(Burkina Faso) and INumber Number(South Africa) hold sway.
Ghana-born actress, Jocelyn Dumas, and her Nigerian counterpart, Ini Edo, are also once again in a big battle for the Best Actress category for their roles respectively in While You Slept and Silver Rain. The two leading actresses were nominated in the same category in 2014.
“Two new revelations in the Most Promising Actor/Actress category are Demola Adedoyin for his role in Kunle Afolayan’s October 1 and Kemi Lala Akindoju for her role in Tunde Kelani’sDazzling Mirage.”
At the ceremony attended by several top Hollywood film makers and their Nigerian counterparts, the Chairman of the College of Screeners and member of the Jury, Mr. Shaibu Husseini, was quoted as saying that there was improvement in the quality of films coming to AMAA every year since inception 11 years ago.
“It is gratifying to note that film makers from the continent and beyond are investing more in their trade and the evidence of their investments are the quality films we see, though there will always be room for improvement,’’ Hesseini said.
Some of the stars at the event were Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Faithia Balogun,O.C Ukeje, Patience Uzokwor, Kingsley Ogoro, Paul Okoli, Chioma Chukwuka, Kunle Afolayan, Emem Isong, Doris Simon, Eniola Badmus, Aki and Paw Paw; as well as Ghana-born Lydia Forson, who is also AMAA’s brand ambassador.
The Chief Executive Officer of AMAA, Dayo Ogunyemi, said its leadership decided to take the nominations event to Hollywood this year to begin the concrete step of taking African cinema to the home of global cinema for a mutually and economically viable cooperation.
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