Saturday, May 14, is the D-Day of the 8th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, AMVCA.
Activities making the glamourous award ceremony began on Saturday 7th of May with an opening gala night for nominees and sponsors and will continue until the grand finale.
Fans and industry stakeholders are excited about this year’s edition of the award, which was last held in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 2022 edition is different from the previous edition; the organizers, MultiChoice, in association with African Magic, have introduced new initiatives.
For instance, the legendary Lagbaja will, for the first time, perform alongside the rave of the moment, Rema.
Both artists will thrill guests to live at the AMVCA in a joint performance.
But beyond the eight-day lineup of events and other highlights of the events that many fans look out for at the AMVCA are nominees and likely award winners.
Strong contenders
No doubt that Nollywood set a new standard for itself in 2021, as the year witnessed the dawn of a new era of better movies.
Some of the movies to look out for on Saturday at the 8th of the AMVCA are:
‘Rattle Snake: The Ahanna’s Story’ is the most nominated movie in this year’s AMVCA, with 11 nods in categories like best director, best overall film, best movie West Africa, best cinematographer, best make-up, and best soundtrack, among many other types.
Closely following RattleSnake is Okechukwu Ogunjiofor’s ‘Amina’, with ten nominations in similar categories.
Funke Akindele’s movie ‘Omo Ghetto The Saga’ got nine nominations which include Best Supporting Actress, Best Make-up, Best Costume Designer, Best Actor in Comedy, Best Actress in Comedy, Best Movie West Africa, Best Picture Editor, Best Sound Editor, and Best Overall Movie.
Also, Rita Dominic’s ‘La Femme Anjola’ and Roger Ofime’s ‘Voiceless’ bagged six nominations in this year’s AMVCA.
However, that’s not all; some actors also bagged more than one nomination.
Nollywood actress Funke Akindele also received three nominations for her roles in the hit series Jenifa’s Diary, Omo Ghetto and My Siblings and I.
Another actress, Bisola Aiyeola, got three nominations for ‘This Lady Called Life 2, Sugar Rush and Dwindle.
Meanwhile, Nollywood’s Nancy Isimie and her male colleague, Timini Egbuson, also have double nominations.
First-timers
For many in the Film industry, the AMVCA is no new award for them, as they have been nominated or even won awards in the previous editions.
But this year, some actors like Shawn Faqua, Gideon Okeke, Stan Nze, Broda Shaggi and Enyinna Nwigwe, bagged their first-ever AMVCA nominations.
Osas Ighodaro, Odunlade Adekola, Genoveva Umeh, Kehinde Bankole, Bucci Franklin and Bucci Franklin also made the cut.
Skitmakers award
For the first time, the AMVCA would also be awarding social media skit makers in the “best online social content creator’.
The nominees include Mr. Macaroni, Tee Kuro, Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori, Oga Sabinus, Taaooma, Jacqueline Suowari, Edem Victor, and ex-BBNaija housemate – Elozonam Ogbolu.
Journey to 2022 AMVCA
The 8th edition of the AMVCA began with the gala night and the sponsors’ cocktail on Sunday at the Monarch Event Centre, Lekki Lagos.
The first-ever AMVCA runway show in partnership with BellaNaija Style was held on Sunday.
On Monday, the MultiChoice Talent Factory Day with movie screenings and panel discussions by students of the MTF academy took place.
On Tuesday, Africa Magic hosted industry stakeholders at a unique Content Market Day.
Wednesday was set aside for the pan-African food festival and cultural day.
A Digital Content Creators’ Day to spotlight the growing popularity of online content creators was held earlier on Thursday.
A special gala for nominees will be clenched on Friday, ahead of the award night on Saturday.
Sponsors
The 8th edition of AMVCA is sponsored by Amstel Malta, alongside its tactical sponsor, Pepsi.
Other sponsors are Promasidor, Quick Teller, Moet and Chandon, Lush Hair, Supa Komando, Desperado, Sunlight Detergent, and 2Sure.
