Honour for journalists at AMAA’s charity gala night

African film Academy, the parent owner of the AMAA brand, is set to honour select journalists in continuation of its yearlong 10th anniversary celebrations.

The journalists will be honoured at an anniversary charity gala night at the Grand Ball Room of the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island on Saturday, August 17, 2014.

Nigerian gospel artiste, Frank Edward,s and South Africa’s singer, Kgotso, and their band members will be on standby to entertain the guests.

Speaking on the Charity Ball, the founder of Africa Film Academy who recently stepped down as chief executive officer of AMAA, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, said the charity gala will be used to raise funds to support AFA’s work across Africa.

She enthused that Africa has come of age and the positive stories about the continent must be told to the rest of the world through motion pictures.

“‘We want to raise funds to support our training and other talent development programmes across Africa. We are selling tables and souvenirs to raise the funds. It will be a gala night with joyous celebration, Africa’s largest gospel band from South Africa on stand to entertain our guests,” she said.

“We are praising God for blessing our work in the last 10 years and also raising awareness about the work we do through our Film-in-a-Box project across the continent. We call on our partners, sponsors and other corporate bodies to support us the more.”

The 10th edition of the African Movie Academy Awards was held at Yenagoa, Bayelsa in May, 2014.At the charity ball, five of the 10 shortlisted Nigerian journalists will be decorated for emerging winners in the special recognition awards for journalists who have covered the AMAA awards in the last decade.

The AMAA Media Recognition Awards was designed to celebrate journalists in Africa who have helped to project the awards and the motion picture industry to the rest of the world.

The media award is worth $10,000, which will be shared among the three clear winners and two consolation prize winners.

AMAA’s media recognition awards’ three-man committee was coordinated by Mr. Steve Ayorinde, chairman of AMAA 2014 Jury; while the members were Thisday newspaper columnist, Mrs. Onoshe Nwabuikwu; and Dr. Ifeoma Amobi of the department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos.

The 10 finalists and their nominated entries include Business Day’s Funke Adetutu, for Peace Anyiam-Osigwe on a Show Beyond the Continent; Sunday Tribune’s Akintayo Abodunrin, for Catalyst to Greatness: How AMAA Aided their Rise to the Top; Business Day’s Daniel Obi, for African Film Industry, AMAA and FDIs; National Mirror’s Terh Agbedeh for Nigerian Film Industry Regains Credibility at AMAA and Punch’s Akeem Lasisi for Thumbs Up for Figurine on a Night of Perfect Picture.

Others are The Guardian’s Chuks Nwanne for At 10, AMAA Rolls the Drum for Mother Africa; E24-7’s Biodun Kupoluyi, Night of AMAAzing Performances in Bayelsa; Nolly SilverScreen’s Isabella Akinseye, for AMAA: A decade of Uniting, Celebrating and Rewarding African filmmakers; Kenyan and Nairobi Digest’s Njenga Micugu, for African Film Should go Digital to Discover more Lupitas. 

From the broadcast media, there was Collins Ukaonu whose interview in Reel Nollywood on Galaxy Television made the list.