By Charles Mgbolu
African film professionals are getting set to celebrate the finest works released in the last year as the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards are scheduled to take place this weekend.
There are strong contenders for every award in every category, and fans will have to hold their breaths until Saturday, May 11, to finally know the winners.
The most nominations were earned by Nigerian producer Bose Oshin’s 'Over the Bridge', with 12 nominations, including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Lead Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing, among others.
This was followed by the black-and-white Nigerian fantasy thriller film 'Mami Wata' written and directed by C.J. "Fiery" Obasi, with 11 nominations.
'Breath of Life' and 'Jagun Jagun', also from Nigeria, have 10 nominations each.
Funke Akindele's 'A Tribe Called Judah', which raked in a record N1.4 billion ($996,831), becoming the first Nollywood production to earn over N1 billion in cinemas, also got nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best West African film.
In East Africa, 'Where the River Divides' produced by Kenyan film producer Matrid Nyagah and Ormoilaa Ogol (The Strong One) produced by Evelyn Siololo are in contention for Best Indiginous Film (East Africa).
Others in this category are Wandongwa, produced by John Kokolo; Nakupenda, produced by Tanzanian film director Juma Saada; and Itifaki, directed by Omar Hamza.
The lead and supporting role categories will be one to keenly watch this year following sweeping changes announced by organisers in April.
Africa Magic said the categories will no longer be determined by public voting.
Winners will now be decided by a select jury, headed for the eighth time by veteran filmmaker and media scholar Femi Odugbemi - who is also a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (The Oscars) in the United States.
’As we mark our tenth anniversary, we are embarking on a bold journey to reevaluate our award categories and further align with global trends and benchmarks,'' Head of Content and Channels West Africa, MultiChoice, Busola Tejumola, announced in a video message.
Last year, AMVCA was heavily criticised on social media after the winners of certain categories were announced.
Critics said the Best Actor/Actress awards should not be decided by public voting, as star actors with huge social media followings become the eventual winners and not the performer with the best acting skill.
The prestigious awards take place at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos State, Nigeria.
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
