AMVCA punch holes in Bongo movies

The debate that ensued after Saturday night’s Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (AMVCA) in Lagos might have been the wrong one in many ways.

Even singer Diamond’s performance didn’t seem to soothe those who felt aggrieved in many ways as we left the lounge.

“How come there are no Tanzanian movies at these awards, or was it only for West Africa?” said a fellow whom I had convinced to forego soccer.

At some point calm was almost lost as I laboured to explain a few things regarding the awards and how they are organised.

There were questions such as: Should East African film makers continue being part of the renaissance of African cinema? Are we not better storytellers or the stories are just not there?

Both were rather irrelevant but given the nature of events that had transpired at the Eko Expo Convention Centre in Lagos may be there was a point or even two worth mentioning.

The six plus hours of flight from Lagos for Tanzania’s nominees must have been a very weary one, especially with another failure on a front where some had gathered so much success.

It was disappointing in many ways, another slap in the face after last year’s failure.

On that night West African films, especially from Nigeria and Ghana had scored big leaving the other parts of the continent in awe.

This year’s biggest winner was Nigerian psychological thriller ‘October 1’ which scooped nine awards including Best Movie and Best Director for Kunle Afolayan and Best Actress (Drama) award for Kehinde Bankole.

Other notable winners included romantic drama, ‘The Meeting’ which collected five awards including Best Movie (Comedy) awards for Rita Dominic and Mildred Okwo, Best Actress (Comedy) for Rita Dominic and a Best Actor (Comedy) award for Femi Jacobs.

Speaking after the event M-Net West Africa regional director Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu paid tribute to both the winners and the nominees.

In her opinion, so much has improved as far as African films are concerned she noted certain obvious areas being the lighting and sound which were once a major problem with African productions.

“Each year we have hosted this event, it has become more evident that Africa has truly carved its own mark and identity in the global film and TV industry. Tonight’s event recognised all the talented individuals who continue to grow this industry. We are honoured that we could reward them for their exceptional work,” she said.

And, indeed it had been a great spectacle as Africa’s best converged to celebrate African stories as told by Africans something that Mnet’s CEO Nico Meyer called an overwhelming experience.

“It’s been an honour for us to be part of this event that celebrates the best in African film and television. The amount of talent and exciting productions we’ve witnessed tonight keeps inspiring and motivating us to continue to deliver quality programming,” he said.

It is a promise that many of those in the audience expect the Pan African TV giant to deliver on especially with the recent innovations that have seen the establishment of channels such Maisha Magic.

But as organisers continue to bask in the glory of their latest accomplishments that could well be just half the story.

There are murmurs that are threatening to get a bit louder than it was intended, one that dismisses the whole African content affair.

To some East and Central African film makers seem to be lost in this revival of the African story a point that seemed to have been addressed with the birth of Maisha Magic.

The blame game seems to be on as others suggest that the playground is balanced favour of a certain section as some journalists tried to suggest during a meet in Mauritius.

They argue that the moment the films are put up for voting then it obviously becomes a game of numbers.

However even then there are some who suggest that it isn’t the issue of stories but instead the men at the helm who do not understand the gravity of the matter.

“Most of these guys do not submit their films for the entries and that is why you don’t see their films at that stage,” says a pundit who has worked closely with Multi Choice.

If last year’s failure didn’t send the message this edition ought to, especially for an industry that boasts to be the second to Nollywood in terms of output.

With a myriad of issues surrounding Bongo movies one can’t help but say it is the time to get back to the drawing board if any success is to be recorded in the near future.