The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe and is run through the Africa Film Academy. 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.
The AMAA Awards are among Africa’s most notable film events and have been sometimes referenced as the “African Oscars”
. Established to honor excellence in the African film industry, AMAA quickly became known as the “African Oscars,” serving as a critical platform to recognize the achievements of African filmmakers, actors, and other industry professionals
History
The first Africa Movie Academy Awards was held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, on 30 May 2005. All other subsequent African Academy Awards before 2012 were held at the same venue, except for the 2008 AMAA Awards which was moved to Abuja, FCT for security reasons.[15] In 2012, the awards ceremony was held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos in Lagos State. The 9th and 10th edition saw AMAA returning to Yenagoa, while the 2015 ceremony was held outside Nigeria for the first time.
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe MFR , a graduate of Law and Political Science from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom is perhaps the most outstanding Creative Entrepreneur in Nigeria with extensive global professional connections and affiliations.
More than anyone else, she has promoted the creative industry, most especially Music and the Film segments of the Art and Entertainment Industry in Nigeria to global reckoning in the last 20 years.
She had facilitated the participation of Nigerian film industry practitioners at International Film festivals, workshops and conferences to deepen and sharpen their skills in the business of motion picture.
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is a visionary and catalyst of change. She is one of African Film industry leading lights. She has been at the forefront of the process of expanding the business of film in Africa and making the industry a major contributor to national economies of African countries. She had created several national and pan-continental programs and initiatives to bridge the divide between Africa’s film making communities with the rest of global industry community.
An experienced producer and filmmaker, she chairs the African Film Academy and is the founder the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), which has grown in the past decade into the premiere award program for African film industry. AMAA has consistently been run for the last 17 years.
AMAA has brought not only much needed peer review and acclamation but has also been a platform for pushing African films into global consciousness.
AMAA Awards: Celebrating Excellence in African Cinema
Founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe in 2005, the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) promotes African filmmaking excellence under the Africa Film Academy. It annually celebrates industry professionals, renowned as the premier accolade in African cinema, evolving from a televised event into a year-round platform. The inaugural 2005 ceremony in Yenagoa, Nigeria, set the stage for subsequent editions predominantly hosted there until the first international event in 2015.We are excited to mark the 20th anniversary of the Africa Movie Academy Awards, a testament to the resilience and creativity that define African cinema, said Mr. Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe, CEO of the Africa Movie Academy Awards. This year’s ceremony promises to be a memorable celebration of the industry’s best and brightest.
The Balmoral Center in Ikeja, renowned for its elegance, will provide a fitting backdrop for this milestone event, promising an unforgettable evening of tribute to African cinema.
