The exciting announcement of the nominees for the second annual AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs) was made on Thursday, December 5, during a special 90 minute live broadcast of StarGist. Created to recognize and honor Africa’s film and TV talents, the AMVCAs is quickly becoming established as a highlight on the continent’s entertainment calendar, with the nominee announcement paving the way toward the big night in March when winners will be named. Led by the StarGist team of Vimbai Mutinhiri and Lawrence Maleka, and featuring Big Brother Africa’s IK Osakioduwa as a guest anchor, the highly anticipated ‘Nominee Announcement’ is sure to captivate the interest and imagination of industry professionals, and fans alike, as the race to take home the coveted AMVCA gilded statuette begins. With over 1000 entries received for the 2014 AMVCAs, three times the amount submitted last year, the nominations were hugely diverse this season, spanning productions from the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In total, there are 137 nominations chosen from across 80 productions, up from 110 nominations chosen from 42 productions a year ago. Leading the nominations is Ghanaian film, Contract with 9 nods, followed by Nigeria’s Living Funeral with 8, Tanzania’s Siri Ya Mtungi with 7, Kenya’s Nairobi Half Life with 7 and Last Flight to Abjua with 6. In the hotly contested category of Best Movie are five stand out titles – Last Flight to Abuja (Obi Emelonye), Contract (Shirley Frimpong Manso, Yvonne Okoro and Ken Attoh), Living Funeral (Udoka Onyeka and Orode Ryan), Flower Girl (Michelle Bello) and Awakening (James Omokwe). Meanwhile, in the category of Best Television Series, nominees are Prem (Grace Kahaki Munthali from Kenya), Love Games (Catherine Phiri from Zambia), Siri Ya Mtungi (John Riber from Tanzania), The Benjamins (Paul Igwe from Nigeria) and Nowhere to be Found (Benson Akindeju from Nigeria). Plus, in the acting categories, a wide cross-section of Africa’s stars were also nominated. Best Actress in a Drama nominees are Stephanie Wilson, Veronica Waceke, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Nkiru Sylvanus and Ivie Okujaiye. In the Best Actor in a Drama category, Juma Rajab Rashid, Hlomla Dandala and Tope Tedela are all nominated alongside Majid Michel, who scored two nominations. Echoing Majid’s nomination success is Funke Akindele who scored an impressive 3 noms in the Best Actress in a Comedy category. Nominated alongside her was Yvonne Okoro, Jackie Appiah and Mary Ogbonna. In the Best Actor in a Comedy category, nominations went to John Okafor, Chinedu Ikedieze and Hlomla Dandala, with Osita Iheme also drawing 2 noms. Other notable names on the nominees’ list include: Amil Shivji, Ann Hamberger, Bikiya Graham-Douglas, Bimbo Manuel, Chris Attoh, Chris Eneaji, David Mulwa, Desmond Elliot, Frank Rajah Arase, Hafizu Bello, Ian Mbugua, Jazmyn Batchan, Jumafor Ajogwu, Liz Ameye, Martins Onyebuchi Onyemaobi, Mercy Aigbe, Nancy Handabile, Olatunji Akeem Balogun, Tamara Eteimo, Tosh Gitonga, Valerie Kimani, Vincent Moloi, Uche Jumboand many more. In addition, AfricaMagic also announced a brand new category. The New Era Award, which aims to recognize and honour individuals who have made significant contribution to creating a new era for African film and television. Nominees in this category are: Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, Rita Dominic, Rukky Sanda and Uche Jombo. M-Net Africa Managing Director, Biola Alabi, congratulated the nominees on their achievement and urged them to use their nominations as a source of future motivation. “We are so impressed by these skilled persons whose value to Africa must be recognized and honored. We send all the nominees our best wishes for the awards in March, but want to also remind them that their nomination is in itself an acknowledgement of the remarkable work they have done and are continuing to do in creating compelling African entertainment. AfricaMagic is also delighted that the success of year one of these awards can be so clearly seen in the sharp increase in the number of entries received this year.” Alabi equally thanked leading pay-TV operator, MultiChoice Africa and sponsor Amstel Malta for their support. “As our headline sponsor, Amstel Malta, has proved to be an invaluable partner who truly understands the vision of these awards to recognize and honour the African film and television community. Their investment into the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards is deeply encouraging and greatly valued. The same must be said of our platform provider MultiChoice Africa, which has always been a pioneering leader in showcasing the skill and talent of Africa and Africans.”
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