Yesterday was the AMVCAs, and let me tell you, it was a blast! For those of us who couldn’t be there in person we were glued to the live stream. Next year, though? Black dress and all, I’m aiming to be there! The whole event was a parade of excitement. Did you see all the amazing outfits on the red carpet? Talk about fierce! My personal favourite was Osas Ighodaro’s stunning gown designed by the one and only Veekee James. Absolutely breathtaking!
A Night of Recognition: AMVCA Explained
For those who might not be familiar, the AMVCAs are an annual awards show that celebrates the best in African television and film. It’s a huge deal in the industry! This year marked the 10th anniversary, and the celebration kicked off on Thursday with a special night honouring icons. Friday was all about vibrant cultural festivities, and then on Saturday, the big award ceremony took place at Eko Hotel and Suites, hosted by the amazing Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa.
Breath of Life Takes Home the Gold!
The big winner of the night was “Breath of Life,” a movie by BB Sasore and Derin Adeyokunnu. This faith-based film swept the awards, taking home a whopping six golden statuettes, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress & Actor, Best Sound Design, Best Director, and the most prestigious award – Best Movie!
From Disappointment to Delight: My Mixed Emotions
Now, here’s where things get interesting. A few years back, I saw an interview with BB Sasore after his movie “God’s Calling” (also faith-based) where he talked about not making much money from it. Fast forward to yesterday, and his movie “Breath of Life” wins big! It’s truly inspiring to see his hard work pay off.
However, here’s where things get interesting. Funke Akindele’s record-breaking “A Tribe Called Judah” – the first Nigerian film to make over a billion naira – didn’t win a single award. While “Breath of Life” resonated with some, its faith-based themes might not have connected with everyone. “A Tribe Called Judah,” on the other hand, transcended religious boundaries. This left many with mixed feelings – was it a fair outcome?
As George Orwell famously wrote in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” This sentiment applies to award shows too. While everyone nominated deserves recognition, some arguably deserve it more.
Industry Merit Awards: A Cause for Debate
The “Industry Merit Award” went to veteran actress Idowu Philips, also known as Iya Rainbow. While her contribution is undeniable, having received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, I couldn’t help but feel it might have been better to recognize someone else this time. There are so many fantastic actors and actresses from the eastern part of Nigeria, like Ngozi Ezeonu, Chiwetalu Agu, and Ebele Okaro, who have dedicated their lives to the industry. A wider spread of awards would ensure everyone feels included
On the other hand, Richard Mofe-Damijo absolutely deserved his Industry Merit Award. He’s a Nollywood legend!
The Trailblazer Emerges!
Another exciting moment came with the “Trailblazer Award.” Remember how everyone was upset when Chimezie Imo, despite his incredible performance in “Breath of Life,” wasn’t nominated for any awards? Well, it seems the AMVCA jury had a surprise up their sleeve! Chimezie was announced as the winner of the Trailblazer Award, and the crowd went wild!
A Well-Deserved Win for Kehinde Bankole!
Another highlight was Kehinde Bankole’s win for Best Lead Actress in “Adire.” This talented actress has been around since her “Super Story” days, and it’s fantastic to see her finally get the recognition she deserves! Congratulations to all the winners!
A Special Thank You
A big shoutout to everyone who makes the films we love. You make us laugh, cry, and everything in between. Thank you for sharing your stories with us!
This is definitely one of my favorite nights in the Nigerian entertainment industry. See you next year, AMVCAs, hopefully as an attendee in my fabulous black dress!
Dreams do come true, people!
That’s all for now! Let me know what you thought about the AMVCAs in the comments below!
I have mixed feelings about Funke Akindele not winning any award at the AMVCAs and about the Industry Merit Award, I agree with you. We should honour our Igbo veteran actors while they are still alive and with us.
Still a shock to (almost) Everyone. A Tribe Called Judah, unlike Breath of Life, received no criticisms and even broke the box office. Perhaps we should consider the factors used in getting winners.
Great writeup! An excellent recap of AMVCA!
Anyways, I believe all the winners deserve their awards, and those who we thought would win but didn’t are still winners regardless!
Breathe of Life actually deserves the win as the Best Movie, I doubt that kind of storyline has ever been told in the years of Nollywood, it brought a reality of life we never considered; that your life may not even be for you. It can hurt but it’s a reality we have never paid attention to, no doubt when it won the best movie.
Kehinde Bankole deserves that and more! I was pained that Chiemezie didn’t win Best Supporting Actor (was he nominated in that category at all?)but it was great that he got another accolade he deserved. To be fair, Adedoyin too was worth the award. His character laid the foundation for Wale Ojo.
Wale Ojo’s award was well-merited.
For Iya Rainbow, she merited it just as RMD too did. The Woman has been up and doing for long, I bet the reason RMD got it was because he is the godfather in the Screen Life, always topping the game on big screens, Ìyá Rainbow too has been topping the game, if she had not won it (I don’t know others who were nominated alongside her), either Sola Shobowale or Ronke Ojo should win it, they have been in the industry for so long too, and have been showing up on the big screens often, unless it’s awarded by age.
And Joan, you are doing great with this review, the evaluation between Breathe of Life and ATCJ was thoughtful. Well done and keep it up❤️
Love your reviews and write ups . I honestly haven’t watched breath of Life , so concerning the issue of more deserving I can’t say , but I think life works the same way . Sometimes we or ppl do things that everyone praises and it overshadows some work well done according to the rules , I mean take Politics for instance nobody really cares who can do the Job but who can tell us well they can do the Job. So maybe breath of life did not tell us wellmarketing now ) how well of a movie it was . Tribe of Judah was well hyped and of course deserving of the hype (my opinion) . There was nothing really different about Tribe of Judah (everything was just done well ). So maybe BOL was done well and different. For the Trail Blaizer , I think it was nice , RMD deserved it , Iya Rainbow , I feel like it should have someone else except they are using age sha. Hmm, about Kehinde Bankole , I am happy for her but not with the movie of choice . Overall I think AMVCA and Nollywood should do better especially with the Jury something, it should be more transparent.
Love your reviews and write ups . I honestly haven’t watched breath of Life , so concerning the issue of more deserving I can’t say , but I think life works the same way . Sometimes we or ppl do things that everyone praises and it overshadows some work well done according to the rules , I mean take Politics for instance nobody really cares who can do the Job but who can tell us well they can do the Job. So maybe breath of life did not tell us wellmarketing now ) how well of a movie it was . Tribe of Judah was well hyped and of course deserving of the hype (my opinion) . There was nothing really different about Tribe of Judah (everything was just done well ). So maybe BOL was done well and different. For the Trail Blaizer , I think it was nice , RMD deserved it , Iya Rainbow , I feel like it should have someone else except they are using age sha. Hmm, about Kehinde Bankole , I am happy for her but not with the movie of choice . Overall I think AMVCA and Nollywood should do better especially with the Jury something, it should be more transparent. That’s it
I’m here again with my epistles
Let me start by saying as a person, I hate injustice. I hate it when people are being unfair to other people. And that has been the story of the AMVCAs over the years. I am probably the only Nollywood lover who is never excited about the awards. It just somehow eludes the people who actually deserve it. It seems to me like a popularity contest.
While I think that Iya Rainbow has done so well in the industry, I do not think she is deserving of that award considering the fact that she still got one in 2022. We just have way too many veteran actors who have done better. Loads of them. If we don’t allow these things to go round now, when exactly will they get it? In their graves?
As for RMD, man’s our sugar daddy. We love him so much and I think that was well deserving
So you see, AMVCAs has this habit of denying people a particular award, then give the person a consolation award. Like a “sorry you didn’t get what you deserver award but you can’t be angry”. That award for Chimezie Imo is just not it. He deserves that Best Supporting Actor award by far. In fact, his acting in BOL bests that of the Anna and the lead actor(his name skipped my mind) by far. But of course, who knows what goes on behind the screens. Was that now how Kunle Remi was denied his flowers last year too for reasons unknown to us?
Kehinde Bankole winning the Best Actress category seems to me like daylight robbery. Don’t get me wrong, I love her so much as an actress. But the point of that category is not in her being very good as an actress but being the overall best actress by virtue of the movie she was nominated it. No please, Kehinde Bankole in Adire was not it at all. This is exactly why I said I hate injustice. Compare her acting in Adire and that of Funke Akindele in the movie she was nominated in and see the clear difference. Maybe next time, they can simply say Best Actress in every movie they have played in for the year. All these injustices has to stop
Now to BOL and ATCJ, as someone who has seen both, I do not think any actual cinema lover and critique will rate the former over the later. I have always said that the reason BOL has so much support and hype is because it is faith based. What people have failed to understand is that not all of us are very religious, not all of us enjoy the message of unnecessary suffering, not all of us could relate. As for ATCJ, as long as you are a Nigerian, you can relate to every scene of that movie. It’s not because Funke is Funke that she made so much sales with it, it’s because the movie meet everyone’s expectation of her. That movie is the standard! That movie is everything! But at this point, if you want to sweep all of the awards at the AMVCAs, produce something faith based. Not just faith based, make it very very sad that Nigerians will cry regardless of the faults in the script, the setting or the plot. I guess that’s just the way it works in Nigeria
As for me, I think the criteria for judgment should be made public. What exactly do they look out for? The plot? The character development? The cinematography? The attention to details? How exactly do they arrive at the winners?
Until that is done and consistency and transparency is shown, I will not rate the AMVCAs. I won’t!
And, I am very happy that Layi Wasabi won. I’m so glad he’s getting the recognition he deserves. At least they didn’t rob him