Viva Riva shines at 2011 AMAA in Nigeria

A scene from Viva Riva.

Viva Riva shines at 2011 AMAA in Nigeria


The thrilling Congolese gangster epic movie "Viva Riva" out shined competitors to win 6 awards from 12 nominations at the 7th Annual African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) Sunday night at the Gloryland Cultural Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.



Riva is a small time operator who has just returned to his hometown of Kinshasa, Congo after a decade away with a major score: a fortune in hijacked gasoline. Wads of cash in hand and out for a good time, Riva is soon entranced by beautiful night club denizen Nora, the kept woman of a local gangster. Into the mix comes an Angolan crime lord relentlessly seeking the return of his stolen shipment of gasoline. Director Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s Kinshasa is a seductively vibrant, lawless, fuel-starved sprawl of shantytowns, gated villas, bordellos and nightclubs and Riva is its perfect embodiment.
~ From South by South West

The film by Congolese director Djo Tunda Wa Munga won the awards for Best Film and Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.
The Ghanaian film “Sinking Sands” won 3 awards, for the Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Make-up.
“Aramotu” won awards for Best Nigerian Film and Best Costume Design.

The Best Actor Award went to Themba Ndaba of South Africa for his role in “Hopeville” and the Best Young Actor was Edward Kagutuzi for “Mirror Boy”.

It was another disappointing AMAA for Nollywood diva Genevieve Nnaji whose role in Tango With Me was not good enough to beat Amake Abebrese of Ghana who won the Best Actress award for her role in “Sinking Sands”




The following is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards

Best Film
Viva Riva – Djo Tunda Wa Munga (Congo)

Best Director
Viva Riva – Djo Tunda Wa Munga

Best Actress In Leading Role
Amake Abebrese - Sinking Sands

Best Actor In Leading Role
Themba Ndaba – Hopeville

Best Actress In Supporting Role
Marlene Longage – Viva Riva

Best Actor In Supporting Role
Hoji Fortuna – Viva Riva

Best Young Actor
Edward Kagutuzi – Mirror Boy

Best Child Actor
Sobahle Mkhabase (Thembi), Tschepang Mohlomi (Chili-Bite) And Sibonelo Malinga (Khwezi) – Izulu Lami

Best Film In African Language
Izulu Lami – Madoda Ncayiyana (South Africa)

Best Nigerian Film
Aramotu – Niji Akanni

Best Screenplay
Sinking Sands

Best Editing
Soul Boy

Best Cinematography
Viva Riva

Best Achievement In Sound
Shirley Adams

Best Visual Effects
A Small Town Called Descent

Best Soundtrack
Inale

Best Make Up

Sinking Sands

Best Costume Design
Aramotu

Best Production Design
Viva Riva


Best Film For African Abroad
In America: The Story Of The Soul Sisters - Rahman Oladigbolu (Nigeria/USA)

Best Diaspora Short Film
Precipice – Julius Amedume (UK)

Best Diaspora Documentary
Stuborn As A Mule – Miller Bargeron Jr & Arcelous Deiels (USA)

Best Diaspora Feature
Suicide Dolls – Keith Shaw (USA)

Best Documentary
Kondi Et Le Jeudi Nationale – Ariana Astrid Atodji (Cameroun)

Best Short Documentary
After The Mine – Diendo Hamadi & Dinta Wa Lusula (DRC)

Best Short Film
Dina – Mickey Fonseca (Mozambique)
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Controversial African film nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar

Outside the Law

The controversial African film Outside the Law made it to the final five nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film. A record third time for the director, but I doubt if Rachid Bouchareb’s film can beat the Mexican film Biutiful by Alejandro González Iñárritu. "Biutiful" also got the lead actor Javier Bardem a nomination for Best Actor and tipped by top Hollywood stars to win the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. Julia Roberts is in love with the movie.

Biutiful

"Biutiful" which is the humourous Spanish spelling of beautiful was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the last Cannes Film Festival where Bardem shared the Best Actor award with Elio Germano for Daniele Luchetti's "La Nostra Vita". It was the Best Foreign Language Film of 2010 at the 17th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards and also nominated for the 64th British Academy Film Awards for Best Film not in the English Language and Javier Bardem getting another nomination for Best Actor.

The shortlisted films competing for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar are "Dogtooth," by Greece's Yorgos Lanthimos; "Algeria's "Outside the Law," directed by Rachid Bouchareb; "Incendies," from Canada's Denis Villeneuve; "In a Better World," by Denmark's Susanne Bier; and "Biutiful," by Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.



Click here to see all Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards.

Many foreign films had theatrical releases in North America in 2010. The notables included the French production “Babies”, “I am Love” from Italy and “The Secret in Their Eyes” from Argentina that won an Oscar last year. Sandy Mandelberger, a New York film Editor has a detailed report posted on Fest 21.

While some African countries have made it to the Foreign Language Film category of the Oscars, Nigeria has not even made it to the competition at the Cannes Film Festival, except in some minor international film festivals in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. Nigeria boasts of Nollywood, the so called second largest movie industry in the world, but with nothing much to show for it, except the proliferation of substandard home videos circulated by pirates with impunity.

Jeta Amata’s "Amazing Grace", Stephanie Okereke’s "Through the Glass", Kunle Afolayan’s "The figurine (Araromire)" and Chineze Anyaene’s "IJÉ: The Journey" made so much buzz in the local media with claims of breaking box office records in Nigeria, but they have not even found major distributors in the US and Europe. Now Jeta Amata’s new film "Black Gold" and Mahmood Ali-Balogun’s "Tango with Me" are being hyped with great expectations and the only way to prove their worth is not pulling crowds at the few cinemas in Nigeria, but competing with the best at the Cannes and making the nominations for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. Until then, the best is yet to come in Nollywood.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima