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Glitz, glamour and zero wins for Dar thespians at 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Awards

Shirley Fimpong Manso, Yvone Okoro and Ken Attoh after receiving their awards for remarkable performance, editing and writing in The Contract. The AM-VCA were primarily a Kenyan, Nigerian affair, with Tanzanian artists flying home without a win. PHOTO | PAUL OWERE

What you need to know:

  • On Saturday night at the Victoria Islands, Lagos the contest became much of  Nigeria, Ghana and Kenyan affair as Tanzania failed to register a single win at the second edition of Africa’s most prestigious awards ceremony.

Lagos. When the nominations for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards were announced earlier this year, it was obvious that there was going to be laughter, tears and heart-break  in equal measures.

And as it turned out on Saturday night at the Victoria Islands, Lagos the contest became much of  Nigeria, Ghana and Kenyan affair as Tanzania failed to register a single win at the second edition of Africa’s most prestigious awards ceremony.

On a weekend when the World was celebrating the International Women’s Day, African stars graced the red carpet in varied fashion sense as Africa celebrated its story tellers in a rather unique style.

Nigerian films makers and actors led the way by picking up a total of 18 gongs including, Best Actress Drama , Best Actor in Comedy, Trail Blazer Award, Best Sound and Short Film categories.

But as Nigerian films made claim for their place at the naming place of Nollywood in front of over 3,000 strong audience that had travelled from across Africa, the greatest contest emerged from two films from Ghana and Kenya.

Ghana’ Shirley Frimpong Manso’s The Contract and Tosh Gitonga’s Nairobi Half Life battled for glory as each of the films garnered four awards on the night.

Nairobi Half Life, a film that has won awards across the world including the Zanzibar International Film Festival took home Best Lighting, Best Cinematography,  Best Art director, and Best Make-up awards.

Another Kenya film to emerge as a winner was Mama Duka which won the Best Swahili category beating Tanzania’s Siri Ya Mtungi and Vagabond in a category many hoped would have been Tanzania’s.

Njohi Muhoho dedicated the award to all the victims of last year’s terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi Kenya.

In a contest as tight as this one Shirley Frimpong Manso made a case for herself  by winning the biggest award of all when she took home by winning  The Movie of the Year and Best Director categories beating Tosh Gitonga and others.

The Contract by Shirley Frimpong also won Best Script writer- Drama and Best Video editor amid a standing ovation from the large audience at the Eko Expo Convention Centre.

But as she collected her award perhaps it was her acceptance speech that drew the loudest of all cheers.

She said: I hope this can inspire girls to not only look at their beauty but also their brains.

But as Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda failed to register any wins at the awards, the film makers remained upbeat  and hoped to return again next year.

Speaking to The Citizen in Lagos, Amil Shivji whose film entered two categories including Short Film and Best Movie Director said he looked forward to a great future.

“These are some of the challenges you need to grow and I hope we shall return next year even stronger,” said the young film maker whose film Shoe Shine won  an award at ZIFF last year.