Little-known Kenyans bag 2022 AMVCA Awards as stars miss out
Kenyan filmmakers Kaiyare and Liku won an award for their documentary If Objects Could Speak.
Little-known filmmakers Saitabao Kaiyare and Mumo Liku were the only Kenyan nominees who won at the recent Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards 2022 (AMVCA) held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Several renowned Kenyan actors who had been nominated in various categories missed out on the awards as the curtains came down on the one-week event.
Actress Sarah Hassan had been nominated in the Best Actress in Comedy (Movie/TV Series) category for her role in Just in Time, but the award went to Funke Akindele for her role in Omo Ghetto (The Saga).
Matrix Resurrection actress Mumbi Maina, who was competing in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Le Femme Anjola, also missed out with the honour going to Omowunmi Dada.
Television and documentary producer Eugene Mbugua, who had landed a nomination in the Best Documentary category for his creation This Love that features Nameless and his wife, also went home empty handed.
However, the award in that category was clinched by little-known Kenyan filmmakers Kaiyare and Liku for their documentary If Objects Could Speak. The documentary traced the journey of African artefacts stored in museums across Europe.
Scriptwriter, actor and producer Abel Mutua, maker of A Grand Little Lie, also missed out in the Best Movie in East Africa category, with the award going to the Ugandan production The Girl in the Yellow Jumper, produced by Loukman Ali.
Also winning from East Africa was MultiChoice Talent Factory East African Academy alumnus Daisy Masembe, who clinched the Best MultiChoice Talent Factory Film Category for the short film Engaito.
Engaito is a 10-minute Ugandan comedy short film produced by Masembe and directed by Pius Talemwa and Isiko Abubaker, all of them from the 2021 MTF cohort.
Engaito premiered on Showmax on May 25, 2021 under the "Colours of Africa" theme.
It follows an uptown kid who joins a local school in a remote village where shoes are considered a bad omen.
It stars Sekajja Maurice, Nampuma Henry, Akello Esther and Zzizinga Dickson in a supporting role. Engaito made its festival run in the same year of its release and was nominated in the Uganda Film Festival Awards (UFF), the Kalasha International TV and Film Awards in Nairobi and the Janzi Awards.
Masembe was at the top of the 2021 class and the beneficiary of the MTF top award of an internship at the prestigious New York Film Academy.
In the public voting categories, Stan Nze clinched the award for Best Actor in a Drama, while Osas Ighodaro won Best Actress in a Drama.
First-time AMVCA nominees Samuel Perry, popularly known as Broda Shaggi, and Omowunmi Dada won Best Actor in a Comedy and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, respectively.
The Best Director award went to veteran Hollywood actor Ramsey Nouah for his contribution in the movie Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story.
Producer Rogers Ofime had multiple wins in the categories Best Television Series for his work in The Mystic River, Best Indigenous Language Movie (Hausa) for Voiceless, and Best Africa Magic Original Comedy Series for The Johnsons.
Awards were given in 31 categories at the ceremony that was preceded by an eight-day celebration, including its first ever runway show.
