THE AFRICA MAGIC VIEWERS’ CHOICE AWARDS (AMVCA) 2013

The maiden edition of the African Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards took place on Saturday, 9th March 2013 at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. It was a well publicised and attended event with notable celebrities from across Africa who showed up in their dashing outfits. Online voting had already commenced several weeks before the Awards, thus leaving the choice of the Awardees in each category to the viewers across several countries, just as the Award name suggests. However, reports have it that the public only determined the winners in six out of the 26 categories, while others were determined by a team of professionals from all over Africa, headed by Femi Odugbemi.

Below is a full list of Awardees in each category:

 Best Actor Comedy - House a Part, Hafiz Oyetoro
 Best Actor Drama - Two Brides and a Baby, OC Ukeje
 Best Actress Comedy - Dumebi the Dirty Girl, Mercy Johnson
 Best Actress Drama - Perfect Picture, Jackie Appiah
 Best Art Director - Otelo Burning, Anita van Hemert and Chantel Carter
 Best Cinematographer - Man on Ground, Paul Michelson
 Best Costume Designer - The Mirror Boy, Ngozi Obasi
 Best Lighting Designer - Otelo Burning, Dave Howe
 Best Local Language Swahili – The Ray of Hope, Sameer & Sanjni Srivastava
 Best Local Language (Yoruba)- Maami, Tunde Kelani
 Best Local Language (Hausa) - Faida, Nura A Ali and Hafizu Bello
 Best Movie (Comedy) - Skeem, Tim Greene
 Best Make-up Artist - Otelo Burning, Jacqui Bannermen
 Best Movie (Drama) - The Mirror Boy, Obi Emelonye
 Best Movie (Overall) - Otelo Burning, Sara Blecher
 Best Movie Director - Man on Ground, Akin Omotoso
 Best Picture Editor - Man on Ground, Aryan Kaganof
 Best Sound Editor - Man on Ground, Micheal Botha and Joel Assaizky
 Best Short Film - Yellow Fever, Ngendo Mukii
 Best Supporting Actor Drama - A Good Catholic Girl, Matthew Nabwiso
 Best Supporting Actress Drama-Lies that Bind, Maureen Koech
 Best Television Series -The XYZ Show, Godffrey (Gado) Mwampembwa & Marie Lora-Mungai
 Best Writer (Drama) - The Mirror Boy, Obi Emelonye and Amaka Obi Emelonye
 Best Writer (Comedy) - Skeem, Tim Greene
 Industry Trailblazer Award- Ivie Okujaiye
 Industry Merit Award- Olu Jacobs

The event was well-attended by our Nollywood favourites, stealing the show in their captivating outfits. Although the Awards were mostly dominated by South-Africans, our Nigerian stars were able to put on a good show in their presentation of Awards during the programme. Also there were performances by Nigerian artistes such as Iyanya, Banky W and Femi Kuti who by popular opinion thrilled the audience and millions of viewers across many countries.

Barely a week later, the AMVCA is still trending on twitter and frequently discussed on various social platforms. Common topics of discussion include Jim Iyke’s interesting outfit choice, Genevieve’s gorgeous yellow dress, Omotola’s captivating outfits, Rita Dominic’s classy outfit, Liz Benson’s long speech while presenting an award, celebrity couples at the event etc.

All in all, the AMVCA was a huge success and the public anticipates a better show next year. Hopefully, more Nigerians will top the list. The challenge is for more Movie Producers, Actors and other stake holders in the movie industry to put on their creativity caps and produce more original content that will be celebrated all over the world. Although Nollywood currently ranks 2nd in the world, there’s still a lot of work to be done. It is hoped more efforts will be put in by the relevant stakeholders and further, that there will be more recognition for those who diligently do so.

©March, 2013 by Lola Agbaje-Williams

Lola Agbaje-Williams is a Legal Practitioner based in Nigeria who is passionate about Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law. You can contact her via her email address: lolaagbajewilliams@gmail.com or Follow on her on Twitter: @lolawilliams02