The Africa Movie Academy
Awards invites filmmakers to submit their feature, short and documentary works
for consideration for the 10th edition of the prestigious 2014 AMAA Awards that
honours and celebrate the best in the art of filmmaking and the professionals
who make the industry the pride of Africa.
The deadline for
submissions is 15 January 2014 and nominations will be announced in the first
week of March. Acceptable genres include feature length films, shorts and
documentary entries. Only films produced, premiered and or released between May
2012 and December 2013 are eligible. Features may not exceed 120 minutes and
shorts should not be longer than 40 minutes.
The Jury of the
prestigious continental motion picture reward system rising from its Annual
General Meeting which took place recently in Durban, South Africa has approved
the guidelines for the submission of films for the 2014 edition of the awards.
The AGM which was attended
by Mr Ayo Baku, Director of Pan-African Film Festival Los Angeles, Dr. Asantewa
Olatunji, Co-Director of PAFF, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Managing
Director/Editor-in-Chief of National Mirror Newspaper, Mr. Shuaib Hussein,
Journalist and Film Critic, Ms June Givanni, an international film curator, Mr.
Keith Shiri, an international Film curator and programme advisor to the London
Film Festival, Mr. Berni Goldblat, member of the jury of the International
Francophone Film Festival of Namur (FIFF Namur) in Belgium and Professor
Hyginus Ekwuazi, lecturer at the department of Dramatic Art, University of
Ibadan and also former Managing Director of Nigeria Film Corporation, Jos.
Speaking on some of the
decisions taken by the Jurors, Ms. Givanni who presided over the AGM revealed
that the Jury made some amendments of the award categories adding that the
awards organization and the jury are poised to deliver a good tenth year
anniversary event.
"We made some changes
on the award categories. We have introduced an award that is named after former
President Nelson Mandela called Madiba Africa Vision Awards which will be given
at the discretion of the Jury to any film captures the essence and vision of
the category. The category of Best Film by African Living Abroad has been
cancelled.
We also renamed two
categories after two exceptional Africans who have contributed to the growth
and development of the film industry. The Best Film in African Language will
now be Sembene Ousmane Awards for Best Film in African Language while the Best
Short Film Award category will now be called Efere Ozako Award for Best Short
Film. AMAA is immortalizing the names of these two great men with the
awards," she said.
Ms Givanni also said that
a new category Best Director First Feature Film has been introduced to
encourage young and upcoming film directors to continue to strive for
excellence and best practices.
The award in its nine
years has had international music and Hollywood icons such as Danny Glover,
Forest Whittaker, Morris Chesnut, Rockmond Dunbar, Angela Basset, Monique,
Miriam Makeba, Mario Van Peebles,Jimmy Jean Louis, Hakeem Kae Kazim and host
other others in attendance at different times.
Over 700 films were
entered for the awards in 2013 from over 40 countries within Africa and the
Diaspora and the award has been described by international media most especially
CNN as the Africa's Oscars.
The awards organization
also holds nominations gala night where nominees are announced for different
categories across different African cities to drive home the pan-African vision
of the scheme with the last 2013 nomination gala night was hosted in Lilongwe,
Malawi by President Joyce Banda who has now also endowed a prize for the best
film depicting positive stories about women.
"There is this great
awareness of the possibilities in Africa. This has been an exciting year for
African cinema as many big budget productions have been produced on the
continent and distribution is becoming more accessible to African films,"
says AMAA founder Academy CEO Peace Anyiam-Osigwe.
The primary aim of the
African Movie Academy Awards (popularly known AMAA) is to facilitate the
development and showcase the social relevance of African Film and Cinema.
Presented to recognize excellence in professionals in the Africa film industry,
including directors, actors and writers, the Awards are aimed at honoring and
promoting such excellence as well as uniting the African continent through arts
and culture.
Submission must be entered
online at www.ama-awards.com. Each completed entry form must be accompanied by
all the supporting materials listed on the submission forms, including the
synopsis of the film, the list of credits, 5 DVD copies of the film and proof
of the right to submit.
For more information see www.ama-awards.com
We look forward to seeing
your film!
Sincere
regards,
CEO:
Ms Peace Anyian-Osigwe and the AMAA Team
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