<<Print>>

Ghanaian movie stars Jackie Appiah, Majid Michel and movie stars from other African countries graced the 2012 AMAA Awards nominations party over the weekend. At the nomination event which took place at the Kamaira Beach Hotel, Banjul, Gambia on Saturday March 17, 2012 the award�s Jury announced the nominations into the 24 categories to a glamorous audience which include movie actors and actresses from Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and other celebrities that converged on the capital city of Gambia. In all, Nigeria received 52 nominations for the Africa's most prestigious awards for filmmakers. South Africa was first runner up with 45 nominations, followed by Ghana with 17, Kenya with 14, Uganda with 5, Tanzania with 3, and Algeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. Ghana�s Majid Michel has been nominated for �Best actor in Leading Role� whiles actress Ama K. Abebrese who won the award for �Best actress in Leading Role� last year, has been nominated for the same category this year with actress Yvonne Okoro. Other Ghanaians stars, who have been nominated for this year�s awards, include child actor Rahim Banda (Best Child Actor), Martha Ankomah (Best Young/Promising Act), Director Leila Djanzi (Best Director) among other nominations. There were also nominations for the Diaspora entries from America, Canada, France, German Guadalupe, Italy, Jamaica, and the UK. AMAA received 328 entries from across Africa, up from 220 in 2011. This includes 134 feature films,88 short films, 57 documentaries and six animations, 43 entries came from Africans in the Diaspora, with the other entries coming from 23 countries across the continent. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony on 22 April 2012, which is expected be hosted by 'Heroes' star Jimmy Jean-Louis. For the first time, the awards will be held in Lagos rather than Bayelsa State in Nigeria.