28th May, 2014
Funsho Arogundade
Nollywood star and Special Assistant to Anambra State Governor Willy Obiano on Entertainment, Bob-Manuel Udokwu has been celebrated by the organisers of the 2014 edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards, AMAA, with a Special Recognition Awards for his contribution to the continent’s film industry.
An elated Udokwu who was at the Dr Gabriel Okara Hall, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, venue of the award ceremony, to collect his recognition awards told the audience that he would continue to be an actor as the demand of his political office will not stop him from his acting profession.
“I want to thank AMAA for this recognition and my fans for always believing in me. I want to also appeal to filmmakers across Africa who are here tonight that we must work together to tell the African story. We can’t leave it to outsiders who always think the continent is about bad news, wars, famine and diseases. Let’s tell them we are a proud people with history and rich heritage,” he said.
Also during the awards night, Clarion Chukwurah, one of Nigeria’s seasoned actresses, emerged the best actress on the continent.
Chukwurah clinched the ‘AMAA 2014 Award For Best Actress In A Leading Role’ for her outstanding performance in the movie, ‘Apaye’.
She beat seven top actresses to clinch the diadem: Uche Nnadili (B For Boy); Linda Sokhulu (Felix); Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha (Accident); Joselyn Dumas (Northern Affair); and Uche Jombo, Monalisa Chinda and Daniella Okeke (Lagos Cougar).
Chukwurah did not enjoy the spotlight alone. Patience Ozokwo also shone at the ceremony. The ageless actress emerged winner in the category of Best Actress In A Supporting Role for her role in the movie “After The Proposal”.
Apart from these two big wins, Nigeria also recorded achievement in Best Documentary (Portraits of a Lone Farmer); Best Film In African Language (B For Boy); Achievement In Soundtrack (Onye Ozi); Achievement In Visual Effect (A Mile From Home) and Award For Best Nigerian Film (Accident).
But in all, it was South Africa that dominated the award ceremony with ten awards including the biggest award of the night, AMAA 2014 Award For Best Film (Of Good Report).
The movie “Of Good Report” also earned South Africa four crests in the categories for Achievement In Screen Play; Best Young/Promising Actor (Petronella Tshuma); Best Actor In A Leading Role (Mothusi Magano); and Best Director (Jamil X.T Quebeka).
The country also scooped the awards for Best Animation (Khumba); Achievement In Make Up (Once Upon A Road Trip); Achievement In Cinematography (The Forgotten Kingdom); Achievement In Sound (The Forgotten Kingdom) and Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Thapelo Mofekeng).
Ghana’s Shirley Frimpong Manso’s “Potomanto”, won the award for Achievement in Editing, while “Northern Affair”, a Leila Djansi film made it a double for Ghana by clinching the Achievement In Production Design category award.
Peace Anyiam Osigwe, founder and CEO of the awards, during her opening remarks, paid glowing tributes to the late Amaka Igwe, who was a member of AMAA Jury till her death. She said after 10 years, AMAA has become the platform that projects the African film industry to Africa and the rest of the world.
“This is a celebration of African heritage and culture, and reaching our tenth anniversary is without doubt a testimony to the resilience of human spirit and determination,” said Anyiam Osigwe, who has stepped down as the chief executive of the awards.