To ensure the continuity of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) despite the untimely demise of the founder, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the Board of the global award organisation is set to commence preparations for film selection. In line with this board approval, the AMAA Screening College has opened to sort through the 389 entries from over 45 countries already submitted for consideration.

The Chairman of the College, Dr Shaibu Husseini, a renowned film critic and academic, who made the announcement said the screening will be in three stages before successful entries will be forwarded to the Board of the International Jury of the award. The board will then determine the films that will make it into the 26 categories of the award.

“We have got the approval of the board to commence the process for this year’s AMAA award after the tragedy of the demise of the founder. AMAA is a legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, which we will preserve and continue to nurture in her honour. The Screening College has started work. We have three stages of screening with the last stage being the College of Screeners and films selected from the three stages of selection will qualify for nomination as will be decided by Board of AMAA International Jury,” Husseini stated.

The first stage is the pre-selection, which will last four weeks. This stage involves film critics, film scholars, filmmakers, and enthusiasts from across the continent to ensure that only the best of the entries make the final selection cut. Next, the college will begin screening at the level of the College of Screeners; this will last another two weeks before the jurors meet to decide the nominees that will be announced at the nomination event. Recall AMAA announced a call for entries on December 1, 2022, with a late call for entries fixed for June 30, 2023.

Before her untimely demise in January, the AMAA founder had announced that the AMAA award event would take place in Lagos on October 29.

“Recall that the late founder announced timelines for AMAA 2023 at a press conference on December 1. The Board of AFA intends for us to work with that timeline. So we are working with the Board to ensure that we meet the date that PMO had fixed for the main award event,” the College Chairman stated