Nollywood actor Femi Adebayo won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the historical thriller Jagun Jagun at the 20th Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held on Saturday in Lagos.
Adebayo’s Jagun Jagun, which had garnered seven nominations, also won Achievement Awards in Visual Effects and Makeup.
In other major categories, Elsie Abang took home the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for KIPKEMBOI, while Michell Lemuya won Best Young Promising Actor for NAWI. Zolisa Xaluva was awarded Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Queenstown King, while Jackie Appiah won Best Actress in a Leading Role for Red Carpet.
Letters to Goddo, directed by Harry Bentil, won Best Feature Film by a Director, while Jahmil X.T. Qubeka received Best Director for The Queenstown Kings.
Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Souleymane Cissé (Mali), Nacer Khemir (Tunisia), and Haile Gerima (Ethiopia). Special Recognition Awards were given to Alain Gomis (Senegal/Gabon) and Tsitsi Dangarembya (Zimbabwe).
The AMAA Best Film Award went to The Weekend, which also won awards for Achievement in Screenplay, Cinematography, and the National Film and Video Censors Board Award for Best Nigerian Film.
Other notable winners included Out of Bound for Production, Boda Love for Soundtrack, Mai Martaba for Costume Design, and The Queenstown King for Sound. The Achievement Award in Editing went to Under The Hanging Tree.
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In the short film category, Uganda’s The Last Shoemaker received the Efere Ozako Award, while Kenya’s Counter Punch won the Jubril Malafia Best Animation Award. Mozambique’s The Nearest Smell of Gun Powder was named Best Documentary.
The Michael Anyiam-Osigwe Award for Best Film by an African Living Abroad went to Under the Hanging Tree from Namibia, while South Africa’s The Queenstown King earned the Ousmane Sembène Award for Best Film in an African Language.
Outlaw Posse took Best Diaspora Narrative Feature, The Wu Tang Clan Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre won Best Diaspora Documentary, and The Neighbourhood Alert claimed Best Diaspora Short.
Dr. Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe, CEO of AMAA, expressed gratitude to Lagos and Bayelsa states and international attendees from the U.S., highlighting AMAA’s role in portraying African stories on a global stage.
“AMAA is not just about celebrating the winners but honoring the excellence and richness of African history,” he said, marking the start of a new chapter as AMAA enters its second decade.
