AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS – CELBRATING AFRICAN ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM AT THE AFRICAN MOVIE ACADEMY AWARDS

Proud winner of Best Actor in Leading Role

“Telling the story of Africa by Africans” – the mantra that run through African Movie Academy Awards 2012, celebrating once again African creativity and achievement through the very immense and lucrative film industry. Held at Eko Hotel & Suites, the AMAA 2012 became the lamp that drew African filmmakers across Africa and in the Diaspora to celebrate the incredible art of filmmaking.  

Film screening, exclusive parties, music performances in eleven locations across Africa were the exciting forerunners to the main event held on the 22^nd of April. The Red carpet event which commenced activities for the night was sizzling hot with huge African film personalities from Kenya, USA, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroun, Guinea, Germany, Uganda, Jamaica, Canada, France, Tanzania with Nigerian filmmakers in the majority. It was a lovely gathering of African achievers, of colossally creative minds coming together to shake the African continent. A bit of Hollywood was also present at the awards, insinuating the beginnings of a bridge being built between the African film industry and Hollywood. Personalities such as Rockmund Dunbar, Morris Chestnut, Maya Gilbert, Lynn Whitfield and Jimmy Jean Louis (who were also to present awards) definitely gave a Hollywood glamour to the event. The pool of talent in Eko Hotel and Suites was simply astounding.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Best Actress in Leading role

Jimmy Jean Louis and O.C Ukeje were hosts for the evening, which commenced with excellent jazz, and an emotional rendition of the Nigerian National Anthem, a duet with the saxophone. Events then really took off with the opening speech by Asantewaa Olatunji, chairperson of the jury, who introduced all members of the jury and announced an inclusion this year of the Special  Jury Award. The jury for this AMAA 2012 were Berni Goldbat, filmmaker from Burkina Faso, Steve Ayorinde, Nigerian film and art critic, John Akomfrah, Keith Shiri, international film curator and writer, Asantewaa Olatunji herself, lawyer and member of the Board of the Pan African Film Festival in LA and Ayuku Babu, international legal, cultural and political consultant.  Asantewaa Olatunji also struck the heart strings of the AMAA when she commended African filmmakers for their very important role in the decolonization of African films and urged for unity of English, Francophone, Lusophone Africa and in the diaspora.

This very invigorating speech was followed by an extremely uplifting and pan-African speech by the CEO of the AMAA awards herself  who reiterated the strong spirit of the African Movie Academy Awards, “telling our own story in our own way and in our own words”, urging the need for “our histories to be told by ourselves” and no other. She ended quite powerfully with a call to all African leaders to remove all borders in Africa and make Africa one. The rousing applause and ovation she received was testament to the fact that she had sown some seeds of inspiration in her audience.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Jimmy Jean Louis

To cool off the heat the next session was a musical performance by Yinka Davies who took her audience on a jazzy, Nigerian trip. Her confidence, playful creativity was warm and connectable. The night was graced with more remarkable talent with performances like Edge from Kenya, who threw in some fun Afropop (the band was simply awesome) , a beautiful singer form Senegal who complemented her stage performance with very talented dancers. O.C Ukeje’s introduction of the great Asa was an amazing forerunner to the electrifying performance she put up on stage. Singing his own rendition of the “Jailor”, O.C proved he was a man of many talents. The world-class, and African success story in the form of Asa, looked great in a white knee-length dress, ornamented with a black bow hanging from her shoulder and red pumps, which she kicked off her feet in the heat of her performance. Dancing, twisting, jumping, running, the cameras definitely had a difficult time trying to keep up with her energy, drawing her audience into her and the message she sung about. 2face’s performance was equally electrifying if not more so. He had people on their feet with their fingers up in the air before he stepped on stage. Preaching the message of “One love”, the walls of Eko Hotel & Suites were definitely shaking with the powerful unity of voices singing along with the BET award winner. Crowds of people rushed up near the stage to shake his hand during his performance.

<><><> <> <><><> <>

Yvonne Okoro

The competition this year seemed to be largely between the Nigerian film Adesuwa, South Africa’s How to Steal 2 million, and Otelo Burning. Below is the list of winners for AMAA 2012

Best Short Film

Braids on a Bald Head

Best Documentary

African Election

Best Diaspora Feature

Toussaint Louverture

Best Documentary in Diaspora

The Education of Auma Obama

<><><> <> <><><> <> <><><> <>

Tiwa Savage

Best Diaspora Short Film

White Sugar in a Black Pot

Best Animation

The Legend of Ngog Hills

Best Film by an African Living Abroad

Mystery of Birds

Achievement in Production Design

Phone Swap: Pat Nebo

Rockmund dunbar to present award

Achievement  in Costume Design

Adesuwa – Iyen Agbonifo

Achievement in Make-up

Shattered – Sarah Wanjiru

Achievement in Soundtraack

Alero’s Symphony – Chibuzor Oji

Achievement in Visual Effects

Adesuwa – Victor Ehi-Amedu

Achievement in Sound

State of Violence (S.A)  - Jim Patrick

Lynn Whitfield

Achievement in Cinematography

Otelo Burning – Lance Gewer

Achievement in Editing

How to Steal 2 Million – Mick Audsley

Achievement in Screenplay

Ties that Bind

Best Nigerian Film

Adesuwa – Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen

Best Film in an African Language

State of Violence – DV8

Ama K.

Best Child Actor

Tshepang Mohlomi (Ntwe) - Otelo Burning

Best Young/Promising Actor

Ivie Okujaye (Alero) – Aler’s Symphony

Best Actor in Supporting Role

Fano Mokoena (Man on Ground)

Best Actress in Supporting Role

Terry Pheto – How to Steal 2 Million

<><><> <> <><><> <>

Morris Chestnut

Best Actor in Leading Role

Majid Michel – Somewhere in Africa

Best Actress in Leading Role

Rita Dominic – Shattered

Best Director

Charlie Vundla – How to Steal 2 Million

Best Movie

How to Steal 2 Million

A very special CONGRATULATIONS to Majid Michel and Leila Dzansi for lighting Ghana’s beacon throughout Africa. Majid, who had been a frequent attendee to the AMAA awards long before he began his trip of four years of nominations, finally won the crown this year, and promised in his very charismatic way, “AMAA, I’ll be back”.

Leila Dzansi, proud winner of Best Screenplay

VODAFONE GHANA MUSIC AWARDS: AND THE BEST GOES TO…………!

Exit the old and worn out and Enter the new, glitzified and drippingly glamorous! The VGMAs this year was pushed up a superb notch to establish to all that it was being handled by very different hands this year (MTN to Vodafone).

Funnyface displaying his 'Blackberry' shoe

Capturing the mood of the excitement and curiosity of who was going to show, what they were going to show up in and who was hoping to win what, a Red Carpet show hosted by Confidence and KOD brought to the viewers what they were craving for without having to spend GH c100 or GH c200 on a seat! Confidence, looking elegant as usual in a blue gown, and KOD sporting one of his own designs from his label, 1957, caught the stars as they filtered past: Joseline Dumas, 4x4, Stay J, Bertha, Bulldog, from Bullhaus entertainment, Ohemaa Mercy, Gifty Osei, EL, Appietus and many more.

Sharing their views on their expectations for the night, Confidence and KOD were also looking out for fashion statements and did they find many! Stay J shared his love for nature with his companion dressed as a butterfly, Joseline Dumas looked breathtakingly hot and elegant in a cocktail dress of African material and organza, 4x4 looked superb and smart in identical black and white suits, white jackets with a black lapel to match the black trousers, Bulldog was sporting a 1957 white Kaftan…the night was a bonfire celebration of not only foreign designers but also the rich creativity and innovation of our Ghanaian designers. Frankly, I preferred the latter in more cases than one!

The official band for the night was the Patch Bay Band with DJ Black on the side doing his thing with a fervent frenzy. You can imagine the audience’s response. The night was commenced with a gospel performance to the philosophy, “In all things, give thanks to God almighty” and award-winning Cwesi Oteng saw to just that. A mad collaboration with the Patch Bay Band, Cwesi Oteng rocked his audience to their feet in praise. Then a surprise performance with Lord Kenya pushed the tempo notches higher. The legendary Ben Brako soon followed with some rich highlife that kept people on their dancing feet. The energetic Gifty Osei was an example of when electricity meets Gospel singer. Her incredible dancing moves and very good azonto electrified her audience and had them moved to spiritual heights.

The stage was awesome with the inclusion of the Vodafone Walk of Fame which led the stage directly to the VVIP section housing all the nominees and their entourage. To grace this stage as MC was Chris Attoh who looked like the striking model icon as usual in a three piece suit, complete with an inner vest. He made a few more changes during the night into a 1957 white and red Kaftan outfit, a dark blue suit with a matching slim blue tie and silk handkerchief peeking neatly from his top pocket. Three Letters: H-O-T.  

A very funny vignette of staged backstage happenings intro-ed Chris, seemingly close to death, revived and remembering he had to run all the way to the venue to host the VGMAs 2012. It was crazily hilarious to see Chris running through Accra in only boxers, stealing and conniving his way into getting clothes and EL’s phone, only to meet a very loud but bribable Funnyface at the entrance. Funnyface was co-MC, handling the ‘VGMA TV’ segment where he would interact with the winners of the awards. The night produced side-ripping laughter from funnyface’s interviews with the likes of Kwao Kesse and Blak Rasta.

Performances of the night were in a wider sense, the same old mundane routine: Come up on stage, DJ Black plays your hit song, your shout over hit, throw in some azonto and ask the audience to clap their hands or whatever it is that makes them feel as though there is some response. Kaki did wonderfully though, dressed in a short red and yellow jumpsuit with frills to make it look like a skirt, with matching red hair. First of all, her marked name as the one Ghanaian female reggae and dancehall had the girls up on their feet and cheering way before she came up on stage. Secondly, her winding thighs and hips, combined with the dancehall made many a man’s mouth water. Cabo Snoop’s performance of his one hit song with Ghanaians saw him dancing like mad on stage. Dressed in very bright colours like orange and yellow, his legs looked strangely enough like spaghetti steeped in food colour. Efya and Sarkodie’s performance was made just a little more innovative, by getting Awal of Talented Kids Fame and another girl of the same age to impersonate them at the beginning of the song. The mike for the girl was really messing up so it took away the shine from little Efya’s performance, but Awal carried the show, spitting his own rhymes in a very Sarkodie-like way. Soon the real duo came up on stage, Efya looking very African and elegant in a gown with patterned frills in a heart-shaped tube and a swishing trail of African print – a Duaba Serwah item. Efya and Sarkodie were their usual selves and moved the audience but they did not make best performance of the night.



Kwao Kesse receiving his award for Hip Hop song of the year



HHP from SA, sent his audience on a hardcore rap and hiphop journey. This guy is awesome! However, the Ghanaian audience was not soaking him as much as they needed to but he did his thing, danced well to entertain his audience and got his first round of applause when he tried to do the azonto. The Nigerian onslaught of Byron, Ice Prince, Jessie J, and Gh favorite, MI was wicked! Sitting in your GH c100 or GH c200 seat would be wasted because everyone was standing on their chairs to get a closer look.

Then a back to back performance by BukBak, 4x4, Guru was all that the crowd needed to put the cherry on top. Bukbak spiced their act with the inclusion of dancers. Guru brought up a little girl and boy, driving in a tiny car to add some creativity to his act. Boy, were they adorable! His hot, flexible, azonto PHD-holding dancers, at the end of the performance, overshadowed Guru – but hey, that was the point right?

The final performances of the night took the crown; Edem, simply with his charisma and power to move crowds to hail him and Kwao Kesse, with his ‘Abodam!’Edem singing his hit “Over Again” is the one current Ewe rapper to make the larger non-Ewe population sing in Ewe though they did not understand a thing!

Kwao Kesse, who drove into the conference centre in zoomlion car (You can imagine the riot!), appeared onstage with a Zoomlion uniform and a wheelbarrow filled with champagne all “for the Poppin’, for the, for the Poppin’!” Rapping his hit song, similarly dressed men popped bottles and gave them out to crowds or poured them out in calabashes for their pleasure! It got the Vodafone walk of Fame, pretty wet, but hey, blame it on the alcohol! EL’s “Ogbuu mo na” was the last performance of the night, with Papa Nii of Taxi Driver fame intro-ing the song as it was done in the video.

A few skepticisms were raised about the award-winners of certain awards, for instance, the New artiste of the year award which went to Stay J, of a couple of hit azonto tracks, when EL, producer, rapper, singer and multi-genred musician(not just the azonto phase) was on that list. Seriously! Album of the year was given to 4x4’s Waist and Power as opposed to Sarkodie’s Rapperholic! Below are the list of winners:

Gospel song of the year:

Presenter: Ohemaa Mercy

Winner: Selina Boateng

Reggae Song of the year:

Presenters: Adjetey Annang, Lydia Forson

Winner: Blakk Rasta

Hilife Song of the year:

Presenter: Mrs. Muntari, KKD

Winner: I go pay (Quabena Maphia)

Afro-pop Song of the year:

Presenters: Miss Ghana UK, Miss Malaika 2012

Winner: U sey wetin (Zigi)

 

Hiphop song of the year:

Presenters: Joseph agbeko, Eazzy

Winner: Poppin’ (Kwao Kesse)

Hiplife song of the year:

Presenter: Christelle (eTV)

Winner: Kill Me Shy (Dr. Cryme)

Highlife artiste of the year:

Presenter: Princess Calaba

Winner: Kwabena Kwabena

Hiplife artiste of the year

Presenter: Appietus

Winner: Kwao Kesse

Gospel artiste of the year:

Presenter: No Tribe

Winner: Gifty Osei

African artiste of the year:

Presenter: Chief Dele Mamudu

Winner: Ice Prince

 

Best Music Video of the year:

Presenter: Ama K.

Winner: Becca

Best Rapper of the year:

Presenter: Naa Ashorkor, Black Boy

Winner: Sarkodie

Best collaboration:

Presenter: Samini

Winner: Okyeame Kwame and Bertha

 

Record of the year:

Presenter: Ina Patti

Winner: Abena (Kwabena Kwabena)

New Artiste of the year:

Presenters: Jay Foley, Jeremy

Winner: Stay J

Album of the year:

Presenter: Juliet Ibrahim

Winner: Waist and Power (4x4)

Vodafone Song of the year (Most Popular song of the year):

Presenter: Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone

Winner: U go kill me (Sarkodie)

Artiste of the year:

Presenter: Obour and CEO of Charterhouse

Winner: Sarkodie

 

It seems most appropriate to end with Okyeame Kwame’s fervent wish that his award for best collaboration be dedicated to the whole of Ghana in the hope of collaboration during this election year.

One loud “Whoop!” for GH music!