All set for Africa Movie Academy Awards

It may not be surprising to some that “Nairobi Half Life” has made the cut for the 9th annual Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) scheduled for this Saturday April 20 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.The film created quite a buzz in the Kenyan film scene and has as such been duly selected for an award in nine categories among them for best film, best director and best film in an African language.In the Eastern African region, Kenya produced the most entries for the award ceremony beating Tanzania which submitted no entries while other notable submission emerged from Rwanda and Uganda.Among the Kenyans up for awards are David “Tosh” Gitonga for his film “Nairobi Half Life”, Ng’endo Mukii for her film Yellow Fever. Zipporah Kimundu also makes the list with two short films - Burnt Forest and Give Me Back My Home, both based on the Kenya post-election violence of 2007.“There are several other entries from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and even Dubai and other places outside Africa from Africans living in the Diaspora,” says Amaa regional director for Eastern Africa Ongova Ondego.“There were no entries from Tanzania which is quite worrying and nothing also from Eastern Congo and Somalia but that is likely because of unrest in these areas.”The Amaa Awards are presented annually in recognition of professionals in the African film industry. Founded in 2005 by African Film Academy (AFA) founder Peace Anyiam Osigwe the awards recognise directors, actors, writers and other professionals in the film industry with the aim of promoting excellence in the African movie industry in addition to highlighting the contribution of the African continent via arts and culture.

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All set for Africa Movie Academy Awards