26th April, 2013
Last Saturday 20 April, hundreds of Africa’s movie and music celebrities stormed Yenagoa, the capital of oil rich state, Bayelsa for the ninth edition of Africa Movie Academy Awards, AMAA. However, P.M.NEWS Entertainment Café serves you the good, bad and ugly of the continent’s leading awards ceremony
THE GOOD
Over the years, AMAA has stood out thanks to the concepts and innovations surrounding the event. This year is no different. In its tradition, AMAA always invited a notable Hollywood figure as a special guest. This year, Mario Van Peebles, Hollywood filmmaker and producer of hit movie New Jack City was the choice. Mario, who came in with his last son, was so excited to be in Africa for the first time.
The awards event was a one-week programme started with a Praise Jam (an evening of praise and prayers to start the AMAA week).
There was also a Film-in-a-Box Training for 500 students, a Book and Craft Fair, wrestling/boat regatta and a musical concert held on the eve of the awards ceremony at Samson Siasia Stadium. The concert featured top stars like 2Face Idibia, PSquare, Banky W, Duncan Mighty and Timaya. It culminated with the awards ceremony at the Gloryland Cultural Centre where distinguished actors, actresses, producers, directors and editors in Africa were honoured.
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, founder/CEO, AMAA, said this has been an exciting year for African cinema as many big budget productions have been ongoing and the content and distribution becoming more accessible to African films. She noted that in terms of entries received; this edition has been unprecedented in the history of AMAA.
She expressed gratitude to film makers across Africa and the rest of the world who have made the vision of the academy possible. “The year 2013 has been an exciting year for us. It remains clear that African films continue to serve as a link for Africans in the Diaspora to reconnect with their roots. These films have the potential to serve as a shared collective experience, a reminder that Africa is a vibrant continent filled with colour, energy and possibilities,” Anyiam-Osigwe said at the event.
There were musical performances from Waje, Timi Dakolo and Flavour Nabania.
THE BAD
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe was all smiles last Friday after she managed to salvage the logistics bottleneck experienced by most AMAA guests at the General Aviation Terminal of Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. This nearly marred the award ceremony and she eventually moved all her guests to Bayelsa. But the lady almost lost her mind when Ebizi Brown, the Director General of Bayelsa State Tourism Board entrusted with the responsibilities expected of the state government as the host of the awards ceremony showed gross ineptitude.
Obvious to many, it was a show of who was in charge as Ms. Brown was not ready to allow AMAA topshots dictate what they know as the best for their brand.
P.M.NEWS Entertainment Café learnt that as part of the deal as host was the responsibility of the Bayelsa State government to provide transportation and accommodation for all the invited local and international guests. Henry Seriake Dickson, the state governor, was said to have promised to renovate the state 250-room lodge for AMAA guests. But the government failed to do so until the wee hours of the awards day. AMAA had to move some guests into some rooms ridden with cockroaches, mosquitoes and other insects. Others were quickly accommodated in hotel rooms with no water.
As much as most of the lapses were that of the state government, critics throw the blame at the doorsteps of AMAA who failed to realize that the event has grown bigger than Bayelsa.
Beyond the logistics lapses, the awards ceremony was laced with unnecessary long speeches and observation of unnecessary protocol by the dignitaries. The principal culprit of this was the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria who spent more than 30 minutes talking about apartheid era and its struggles.
As if that’s not enough, AMAA 2013’s hosts-Nigerian comedian Ayo Makun (AY) and British/Ghanaian actress Ama K. Abebrese- further punished the guests with a below the par performance.
Despite the organizers’ ingenuity of announcing AY’s presence on stage via a power bike stunt, the comedian trivialized the act displaying timidity and asking the driver to take it easy. When he eventually mounted the stage, AY did a bad job of intro. He forgot to follow the line cued in for him on the teleprompter and went on as if the show was that of a comedy show. His blunder was further heightened during the awards proper as he rocked guests with bad grammar such as “Let me tell you what has been done abroad”.
His co-host, Ama k, was worse off. The Ghanaian screen star was knocked for losing her voice on a day she was expected to serve as a host of the biggest movie event in Africa. Not many inside the Gloryland Cultural Centre barely heard her lines. Source close to the organizers told PMNEWS Entertainment Café that their lackluster performance hastened their replacement with actress and model Dakore Egbuson-Akande and Ghanian actor, Adjetey Anang.
THE UGLY
And It turns out smooth-faced actress Chioma Chukwuka isn’t so smooth after all. The actress, who is also an ambassador to some top range brands, unmindful of her status threw caution to the winds when she engaged in a shouting match with a female journalist aboard Arik chartered flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos on Sunday evening.
An unexplained argument had ensued between the actress, who was one of AMAA presenters, and the female journalist over passage on the aircraft aisle. And this led to exchange of words. The female journalist was further riled when she heard Chioma making some comments about her in Igbo language to two of her friends. And the hell was let loose with both using foul language on each other. While Chioma was heard calling the journalist “Ugly Yoruba bitch”, she replied by calling the actress “Lousy Igbo Bitch”. And while this was on, dignitaries including Hollywood figure, Mario Van Peebles, Chief Eddy Ugbomah and filmmakers from other countries were inside the aircraft and were bemused that a popular face like Chioma will descend to the level of using gutter language in such moment.
But the icing on the ugly segment of the AMAA weekend was when a pregnant foreign guest was assaulted by an overzealous female airport security service officer during the stampede that ensued over the collection of boarding pass at the Port Harcourt Airport.
In defence, the husband of the assaulted woman, a British, returned a slap on the face of the the female officer. Immediately, other security operatives around pounced on the man but he fought them till other guests came into his rescue.
P.M.NEWSEntertainmentCafé learnt that the couple unknowingly was taking picture of themselves at the makeshift departure lounge of the airport. But rather than the officer been polite in reprimanding the pregnant lady, she rather roughened up the woman.
— Funsho Arogundade/Yenagoa
The Complete List Of The Award Winners
•Best Actor in a Leading Role — Justice Esiri (Assasins Practice)
•Best Actress in a Leading Role — Florence Masebe (Elelwani)
•Best Actor in Supporting Role —Gabriel Afolayan (Hoodrush)
•Best Actress in Supporting Role —Hermelinda Cimela (Virgin Magaride)
•Best Promising Actor — Belinda Effah (Kokoma)
•Best Promising Actor (joint winner) — Joseph Wairimu (Nairobi Half Time)
•Best Child Actor — Benjamin Adenungha (The Ugandan)
•Best Director — Niji Akanni (Heroes and Zeroes)
•Best Screenplay — Heroes and Zeroes
•Best Film by an African Abroad — Last Flight to Abuja by Obi Emelonye (UK/Nigeria)
•Best Documentary — Fueling Poverty (Nigeria)
•Best Short Film — Akosua Adoma Owusu (Kwaku Ananse) (Ghana)
•Best Nigerian Film — Confusion Na Wa (Kenneth Gyang)
•Best Costume Design — Blood and Henna
•Best Achievement in Production Design — Elelwani
•Best Achievement in Make-Up — The Meeting
•Best Achievement in Visual Effects — The Twin Sword
•Best Diaspora Feature — Stones in the Sun (Haiti/USA)
•Best Diaspora Documentary — Fa Do Brasil (Brasil/Guatamela)
•Best Animation — Adventure of Zambezia (South Africa)
•Best Achievement in Sound — Nairobi Half Life (Kenya)
•Best Achievement in Soundtrack — The Last Fishing Boat (Malawi)
•Best Achievement in Cinematography — Uhlanga, The Mark
•Best Achievement in Editing— Heroes and Zeroes
•Best Achievement for Lighting — Moi Zaphira
•Best Picture — Confusion Na Wa (Kenneth Gyang)
•Best Film in an African Language—Moi Zaphira (Burkina Faso)
•Special Jury Award —Ninah’s Dairy (Cameroon)
•Lifetime Achievement Award:
Pete Edochie, Eddie Ugboma, Ositadinma Okeke, Tunde Kelani, Ayuko Badu
•Special Recognition of Pillars of Nollywood At 20:
Emem Isong, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Kennneth Okonkwo, and Film/Video Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN)