President Banda Hosts The Africa Movie Academy Awards Nominations in Malawi

Press release
Come March 15th 2013, the president of Republic of Malawi, Her Excellency Joyce Banda will host film makers  and celebrities from different parts of Africa during the nominations event that will be hosted by Malawi.

The AMAA nomination weekend will run from March 14th-17th during which the business community, the political  class in Malawi, celebrities from across Africa and their counterparts in the Southern African country will be hosted to per-nomination concert, the nominations event proper and post-nomination party.

The Director of Administration of the organisation, Mr. Tony Anih said the government and people of Malawi are very excited with the prospect of having movie icons and other players in the motion picture industry coming to the country for the nominations event.

According to Mr. Anih the AMAA nominations is an event where films that make it into the 25 categories of the awards are announced ahead of the main award ceremony which is billed to hold in April this year adding that in the last six years AMAA has deliberately moved the nomination events from one country to the other within the continent.

'AMAA is a continental brand and reward system for motion picture practitioners. While the award ceremony usually takes place in Nigeria we always move the nominations event from country to country. It is our way to  promoting the Africaness of the award and also celebrates our culture and diversity. We have had the  nominations previously in Burkina Faso, Gambia, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. This year we decided to come to  Malawi because of the level of popularity and acceptability of African films, most especially Nollywood and  Gollywood movies in Malawi,' said Anih.

Speaking further on the event to be hosted by the government of Malawi, Mr. Anih revealed that the Film in a  Box project of the academy has been endorsed by President Banda and to this end The Africa Film Academy will  started a programme on the 7th of March targeted at the young men and women of Malawi who are interested in making a career in any aspect of film making.

According to the list made available to the media by Shuaib Hussein, a member of the awards jury and chairman  of the College of Screeners, a total of 671 films have been submitted for AMAA this year, compared to average  of 300 plus that were entered in previous editions.

"This year is a milestone for AMAA as the award will hold its 10th edition and surprisingly the French  speaking African countries have finally embraced the award as the best and biggest in Africa. I want to give  kudos to the promoters of this award for the commitment and dedication.

The event is presented annually to recognize excellence in the African film industry, rewarding directors,  actors, and writers. The awards are aimed at honouring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well as uniting the African continent through arts and culture.