Founded in 2005 by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, AMAA was established to promote and celebrate excellence in African cinema, increase the global visibility of African films, and foster cross-continental collaboration.
Over the years, AMAA has become a barometer of where African film stands in terms of its thematic, technical, and institutional development. It champions films across genres, languages, and countries.
It also highlights the often-invisible work of crew such as editors, sound designers, costume departments, and more. AMAA’s award categories span from Best Film and Best Director to technical crafts, short films, diaspora films, and awards for African filmmakers abroad.
AMAA stands for excellence & recognition, giving African filmmakers a homegrown platform to be honoured by their peers rather than relying solely on Western festivals.
It brings together films from North, West, East, Central, and Southern Africa, encouraging collaboration and cross-pollination.
Through its standards, AMAA raises expectations for production quality, storytelling ambition, and distribution across Africa. Winning or even being nominated can significantly increase a film’s visibility, help with festival circulation, and sometimes box office or streaming deals.
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AMAA 2025: The Nominations & Storylines
On Saturday night in Lagos, the AMAA announced nominees for its 21st edition. Among them, Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso) leads with 10 nominations, in major categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, and the Ousmane Sembène Award for Best Film in an African Language.
That dominance isn’t accidental; Katanga had already won the Golden Stallion at FESPACO (Pan-African Film & Television Festival of Ouagadougou), one of Africa’s most important festivals. Its AMAA nominations signal how festival trajectory often aligns with award recognition.
Below are the nominations across all key categories at the 2025 AMAA Awards.
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Select 2025 AMAA Nominees & Highlights
|
Category |
Notable Nominees / Highlights |
|
Best Short Film |
The Missing Piece (Kenya), Vandals (Mozambique), Echoes From The Past (Nigeria/UK), MIA (Burkina Faso) etc. |
|
Best Animation |
Dawn (Cameroon), My Brother, My Brother (Egypt/France/Germany), The Travails of Ajadi (Nigeria) |
|
Best Documentary |
The Journey East (DRC), Double Minority (Nigeria), Ancestral Visions of the Future (Lesotho/France) |
|
Best Film in an African Language (Ousmane Sembène Award) |
Katanga: Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso), Small Gods (Uganda/UK), Lobola Man (South Africa), Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria) |
|
Best Film by an African Living Abroad |
Ancestral Visions of the Future (Lesotho/France/Germany), Katanga (Burkina Faso, via Dany Kouyaté), Khartoum (Sudan) |
|
Achievement in Production Design, Costume, Makeup, Sound, VFX, Cinematography, Editing |
Many films like Katanga, The Heart is a Muscle, 3 Cold Dishes, Spelonk, and Lisabi: The Uprising are nominated, showing technical ambition across the board. |
|
Best Actor / Actress (Leading Role) |
For actors like Mahamadi Nana (Katanga), Lateef Adedimeji (Lisabi), Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman (The Serpent Gift), etc. |
|
Best Director |
Nominees include Niyi Akinmolayan (Lisabi), Imran Hamdulay (The Heart is a Muscle), Dany Kouyaté (Katanga), among others. |
|
Best Film |
Strong slate including Algiers (Algeria), 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria), Small Gods (Uganda/UK), For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia), Katanga |
See Full List here
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