Second AMAA screening okays 65 films

After the first and second levels of screening for the films that were entered for the 2014 edition of the African Movie Academy Awards, 65 movies have crossed the hurdles to the third level of screening, which will start on March 2, 2014 in Yenagoa,Bayelsa State.
The awards organisers, according to the Chairman of College of Screeners, Shaibu Hussein, received 428 films from different parts of the world.
The secretariat received films from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa (topped the list of submissions), Algeria, Togo, Gambia, Sudan, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Uganda, Congo, Zimbabwe, Chad, Cameroun, Liberia, Malawi, Togo, Benin Republic, Egypt, Morocco, and from Diaspora like the US, UK, Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Peru, Netherlands.
It also received films from Africans living abroad from such countries as China, US, United Kingdom, France and Netherlands.
Giving the breakdown of the entries, Hussein, who is a journalist and leading film critic in Nigeria, said the College received 24 animations,174 short films, 20 Diaspora features, 10 Diaspora documentaries, 50 African documentaries and 180 feature films.
The College chairman revealed that 15 professionals, drawn from the media, academics and the motion picture industry, selected the 65 films after a rigorous five-day camp at Ibis Hotel, Airport Road, Mafoluku, Lagos.
The third level screening camp will also have members who are coming from Ghana, Cameroun, Malawi, Kenya, DRC Congo, Benin Republic and Nigeria.
They will stay in camp for seven days in Yenagoa.
Hussein said: “The films that will go to the Jury will be decided at the third level of screening.
“About 35 films will go to the Jury.
“The Jury works begin after the College has given them the films they will work on to determine which film makes it to nominations for the different categories.
“After the nominations, the Jury will meet again to decide the final winners.”
Speaking generally on the quality of the films that came to AMAA for consideration, the members of the Second Level Screening Panel in their communique issued after their camp, noted that there is a remarkable improvement in the quality of entries, cutting across the African continent and beyond; that there is need for improvement on content, storytelling and scripting; that about 75 per cent of entries require proper interpretation by cast and crew; and that the quality of entries in the indigenous language category has improved.