Nigerians win big at AMAA 2015

NIGERIAN film-makers who were nominated in various categories of the 2015 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), which held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on Saturday, turned out the biggest winners of the eleventh edition of the award, which attracted film-makers and film-goers from all over the globe.

The Nigerian filmmakers clinched seven out of the 27 awards that were handed out while countries like Mauritania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Angola and South Africa, which had for several years dominated the awards ceremony got five, three and two awards.

Kunle Afolayan’s award winning film, October 1, was adjudged the best in costumes and it received the Bayelsa State government award for best Nigerian film awarded to the best film from Nigeria in competition. Veteran actress Hilda Dokubo was adjudged best actress in a supporting role for her performance in the movie Stigma while Kemi Lala Akindoju was voted best promising actress for her effort in Tunde Kelani’s latest feature Dazzling Mirage. Kemi shared the award with Hassan Spike Insingoma who got the award for his effort in the Ugandan film “Boda Boda Thieves”. However, while Kemi was in South Africa to receive her award, Hassan Insingoma was unavoidably absent. He is reportedly serving a life jail sentence in Uganda after he was convicted for murder in 2013.