Organisers of the annual and the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) have celebrated 10 years of the awards.
The
capital city of Bayelsa State, Yenagoa became the centre of attraction
as movie personalities stormed the city for this year’s awards.
Leila
Djansi and Shirley Frimpong-Manso saved Ghana from what could have been
a total disgrace by winning an award each at the event, an improvement
over last year’s win.
Last year, Ghana picked just an award for Best Short – Kwaku Ananse.
Leila
Djansi’s directed movie, Northern Affair picked Ghana’s first award on
the night for AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
whiles Shirley Frimpong-Manso picked the AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT
IN EDITING for her movie, Potomanto. South Africa picked most awards on
the night.
Full list of winners...
EFERE OZAKO AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM: Dialemi – Gabon
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATION: Khumba – South Africa
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY: Hamu Beya- The Sand Fishers – Mali and Potraits of a Lone Farmer – Nigeria/Denmark
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST FILM IN AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE: B for Boy – Nigeria
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST DIASPORA SHORT: Passage – Bahamas
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST DIASPORA DOCUMENTARY: Through the Lens Darkly : Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People – USA
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST DIASPORA FEATURE: Kingston Paradise – Jamaica
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN: Northern Affair – Ghana
AMAA 2014 ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN: Ni Sisi – Kenya
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP: Once Upon A Road Trip – South Africa
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUNDTRACK: Onye Ozi
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECT: A Mile From Home
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND: The Forgotten Kingdom
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Forgotten Kingdom
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING: Potomanto
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SCREEN PLAY: Of Good Report
AMAA 2014- BAYELSA STATE GOVERNMENT ENDOWED AWARD FOR BEST NIGERIAN FILM: Accident
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST CHILD ACTOR: Lebohang Ntsane – Forgotten Kingdom
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG/ PROMISING ACTOR: Petronella Tshuma – Of Good Report
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Thapelo Mofekeng – Felix
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Patience Ozokwo – After the Proposal
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Mothusi Magano – Of Good Report
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Clarion Chukwura – Apaye
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM BY A DIRECTOR: Harrikrishna & Sharvan Anenden – The Children of Troumaron
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Jamil X.T Quebeka – Of Good Report (South Africa)
AMAA 2014 AWARD FOR BEST FILM: Of Good Report – South Africa
MADIBA Award: Ni Sisi – Kenya
BEST FILM FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: B For Boy – Nigeria
SPECIAL JURY AWARD: New Horizon – Nigeria
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Bob Manuel
The much-anticipated Ghana Meets
Naija concert finally took place at the Accra International Conference
Centre on Saturday night, but not without eventualities -the biggest
being a performance by actor/comedian Lilwin alongside Guru.
Lilwin performed a number of songs with Guru on stage much to the
delight of patrons of the concert, but soon found himself insulting some
sensibility when he came on stage with a bag, claiming it contained
some secret medicine, which he was going to sell to the crowd. He then
revealed that the medicine he was selling was ‘wee’ (marijuana), saying
it was medicine that can take away one’s sorrows and troubles, as well
as cure a number of sicknesses. He went on promoting ‘wee’ until the DJ
tried to cut him off by sounding ‘the alarm’. Lilwin persisted, trying
to overpower the loud ‘siren’ by throwing a fit and occasionally
insulting the DJ with his signature insult (presumably meant to be
funny).
Controversial Ghanaian actress,
Yvonne Nelson recently traveled to Spain. Yvonne has been in the news
lately for controversial reasons.
Recall that some months ago,
she was reportedly dumped by Nigerian singer, Iyanya, who even did a
song where he expressed how potent Yvonne Nelson's 'medicine is,
ostensibly her 'waist'.
Also, the actress was accused of changing her skin colour with a bleaching cream, an allegation Yvonne has vehemently denied.
Yvonne
Nelson was in Madrid, the Spanish capital last weekend and she stated
that the streets of Madrid was agog after Real Madrid clinched their
historic 10th Champions League trophy against their city rivals,
Atletico Madrid in a 4-1 thriller match.
It is, however, not
clear if Yvonne traveled to Spain on vacation or for business. But from
the look of things, the actress is still enjoying her singlehood and
ready to catch fun.
Nollywood actress, Uche Jombo is one of the most respected contemporary movie stars in Nigeria.
Since
making her way into the industry some years ago as a scriptwriter, the
wife of an America-based businessman husband, Kenney Rodriguez, has
grown to become a big fish in the movie 'ocean' in Nigeria. She is even
today doing well as a film producer.
In May 2012, taking many by
surprised, Uche Jombo secretly married her husband and few days ago,
they marked their second year together as husband and wife. Many of her
fans wished her more successful years ahead.
Going by information
at our disposal, Uche Jombo has decided to rebrand and push her brand
beyond the shores of Nigeria and even the continent of Africa. It is
believed that the sultry actress now aims to do top international jobs.
It
was even murmured to us that she wants to break into the American film
industry popularly called Hollywood. And we also heard, she is not
taking this dream lightly as she is reportedly doing everything within
her power to break boundaries.
Comedian, Lilwin, has always been
well received anytime he mounted the stage to perform and loud applause
ushers him off stage when he is done with his act.
But last
Saturday maybe one of his most embarassing moments when he was forced to
leave the stage before he was through with what he had planned to do at
the fourth Ghana Meets Naija concert hosted at the Accra International
Conference Centre.
During Lil Win’s comedy act at the event, he
announced that he was in possession of marijuana which he said was the
best medicine to cure headache and other ailments. But before he could
explain further, Lil Win was interrupted by D.J Black and the former who
was obviously not too happy.
Lil Win who has received a lot of
bashing for putting up such an act has explained to Graphic Showbiz,
that his act was about the disastrous effects of substance abuse and not
to glory drugs.
“What I had in the plastic bag was not wee but
rather talcum powder, pepper and leaves. I mentioned “wee” because I
wanted to explain to the audience the dangers of using drugs. There is
no way I would stand on such a big platform to promote “wee”.
“
For Christ sake, I am a MTN Ambassador who has a lot of followers and
that alone should tell anyone I wasn’t there to promote “wee”. It is
unfortunate but maybe, I didn’t get the introduction to the subject
right. I will never promote substance use.
“I don’t use drugs
but I worry about the young folks who do so and I thought as a role
model, it was my duty to educate them on such issues when I get the
opportunity. And the Ghana Meets Naija was a good platform to do just
that. It is unfortunate the organisers thought I was promoting “wee”,”
Lil Win explained.
According to the actor, never has he promoted
the use of “wee” in his movies not to talk about promoting it on such a
huge platform.
He said had the organisers been a little patient
with him, everyone would have known the good message he was trying to
drive home.
Asked why he did not communicate to the organisers
before coming on stage, Lil Win explained the act was arranged between
him and musician, Guru.
Lil Win says he is sorry for the mishap and thathe had no intention to promote drug use many are speculating.
2013
Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the year, Shatta wale has lashed out at
the Ghanaian media at what he describes as a deliberate ploy to
associate him with negativity.
He was reacting to recent rumors
in the press that he had deliberately refused to visit his manager Nana
Asiama Hanson [Bull dog] after he got arrested.
Nana Asiama
Hanson was arrested for the murder of Fenec Okyere, manager of Kwaw Kese
after investigations by the homicide unit of the Police Criminal
investigative department pointed to him as the prime suspect.
Speaking
to Citi News in an exclusive interview, Shatta Wale questioned the
rationale behind all the negative reports and said he was not in any way
swayed by them. “The industry people are always talking about me. But I
know it is God who’s brought me this far.”
Reacting to bulldogs
imprisonment he disclosed that “I know all their plans against Bulldog
will not materialize, I know the God that takes care of me and will
extend his mercy towards Bull Dog. God Is watching everyone.”
He
also added that “I heard the media spreading all sought of rumors that I
don’t even go and visit him[Bull Dog]. What worries me about the media
is that they never say anything good about me. They only concentrate on
the bad stuff that is said about me.”
He has asked the media to
desist from those writing false reports about him saying “I beg them,
they should stop circulating false rumors about me. Actually, I don’t
like what they are doing. Any bad thing they like to associate it to me.
All the areas I know, Newtown Madina, Nima, they follow me because I am
a man of truth.”
Nollywood star, Ramsey Nouah, exposes some of the realities confronting many Nigerian actors, writes Jayne Augoye.
After
a phenomenal rise to global fame, Nollywood celebrated its 20th
anniversary recently. At other times, the occasion would have been
marked with much partying, probably round the year. But things are far
from being rosy for the industry at present.
Many challenges,
including piracy, absence of structured distribution networks and a
string of scandals trailing some of its star players, are threatening to
rob the industry of its glory. While these issues are not new, they
have taken a toll on the fortunes of some actors and actresses
Over
the last few years, the effect of the dip in Nollywood’s fortunes on
some practitioners, especially the pioneers, has become a subject of
debate and concern for stakeholders.
Before now, a good number of
the screen stars found consolation in endorsements by corporate
organisations, especially telecomunication companies like Globacom and
MTN. But the business world is fast shifting its love to musicians.
Although
some of their fans have come to realise that Nollywood movies ‘no
longer sell’, a number of these stars, who themselves are obviously
experiencing hard times, cover up by constantly hyping themselves.
But Nollywood star, Ramsey Noah, has burst their bubble.
Noah,
whose acting career kicked off when he starred in the Nigerian TV soap
opera Fortunes in the 1990s, is saying it as it is for the first time.
The
actor was one of the panelists at the recently held Nigerian
Entertainment Conference. He did not mince words when painting the true
picture of the situation in Nollywood.
He says, “Many Nigerian
actors live on their past glory. The truth is that many of us (actors)
don’t make money from film-making or movies any longer. There is the
show part, but there is actually no business side to Nollywood any
longer.
“Many of these actors depend on and make their money from
acquaintances. So, they simply depend on those who appreciate their
works and then introduce them to other sources of income aside acting.”
The
actor whose Globacom endorsement deal was terminated in 2013, alongside
that of Rita Dominic, Uche Jombo, Mike Ezuruonye, Monalisa Chinda,
Nonso Diobi and Odunlade Adekola, adds, “Some people who appreciate you
for who you are and for your talent will then try to establish business
links that can sustain you and your family.”
Judging by the
number of factions that currently exist in Nollywood and the current
leadership tussle within the Actors Guild of Nigeria, it is not
difficult to tell that the actors are somewhat divided amongst each
other.
Noah appears to confirm this when he notes, “The truth
about creative people is that they lack unity. It is very hard to find
unity among them. It has nothing to do with Nollywood, in particular.
“In
Nollywood all you have is the show part but not the business. We lack
structure. There is no balance. It is almost as if we sold our
birthrights to the wrong people. Nollywood is capital — intensive and we
are aware that improvements are needed, but we lack the structure to
make this happen.”
Even as The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences has approved a 12-man committee of Nollywood stakeholders
(this will pave the way for Nigerian entries to be considered for the
Oscars in 2015), Nouah is optimistic that the future is not entirely
bleak for Nollywood.
He says, “Hopefully this digital era will
bring about positive changes in the outlook and technology of some of
our movies. I would love the situation where creative minds put the
right structures in place for the industry and then things will get
better.
“I suggest that the Federal Government should impose
heavy taxes on DVDs/VCDs producers so as to curb piracy. There is a need
for the right structure, in addition to marketing and promotions, to
propel Nollywood.”
