Annual film ceremony pushes on with 13th edition

Yesterday, Saturday, July 15, 2017, the

It took place at the Expo Centre at Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island. Lagos obviously was this year's host for AMAA. The award ceremony was graced by the biggest names in the movie business in Africa.

For over a decade, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe has continued to celebrate the best of African film. She started when box-office hit movies '' and '' were just a dream. Kudos to her for seeing the vision and choosing to start when most people were afraid.

Like Nkem Owoh, who won the lifetime achievement award said, there have been many awards but AMAA has come to stay. It is now an institution. It is not easy organising award shows in Nigeria. The act of organising 13 editions is no mean feat in these parts. It shows dedication, tenacity and belief against all odds.

The 13th edition was truly a celebration of African film. The organisers were not pressured to awarding all the accolades to Nigerian movies. It wasn't a Nigerian show, it was a true African one which touched based in all parts of the continent. The winners' list reflects that. It was good to see other film makers and actors from other parts of the continent.

While the 13th edition was another success for the academy, the award ceremony itself could have been better if minor adjustments were made.

Nse Ikpe Etim is a brilliant actress and as a host, she did try to bring life to the ceremony. If the ceremony was properly scripted she would have been flawless in her role as host.

Also sometimes the banter between the presenters of the award categories was mostly unnecessary. They dragged on for a bit and were not funny.

Another aspect of the show which could have been better was in the Francophone aspect. In future awards, an interpreter should be on standby to interpret the speech of an actor or filmmaker who is from a Francophone country. It was good to see French speaking film makers win but we also wanted to hear what they said when they accepted their awards.

All in all, apart from a few minor glitches, AMAA did what it has always been good at- celebrating the best of African film. It's consistency and determination makes it stand out.