P Square concert,AMAA nomination gala March 15

Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) organisers have announced that the nomination gala and Nigeria’s P Square concert will all take place on March 15.

The organizers held a press briefing in Lilongwe on Thursday where they announced the changes saying that the red carpet 9th nomination gala will be held on the same day with the P Square concert and not on different days as previously announced.

This is also indicated in a press release accessed by The BNL Times stating that the nomination gala will be held at a different venue from the concert which will be at Lilongwe Golf Club.

Several African stars are expected to attend the red carpet gala and they include celebrated actors and musicians such as Rita Dominic, Desmond Elliot, Osita Iheme, Patience Ozokwor, Uche Jumbo and Jackie Appiah.

The press release also says that the nomination gala will be spiced up by a performance from South Africa’s female gospel musician Rebecca Malope, who will share the stage with the local jamming machine, Skeffa Chimoto.

President Joyce Banda’s assistant, Martha Chikuni, said Malawi has potential in the film industry and that it can rise if the country learns from what is happening in Nigeria.

“The business community needs to come in to support the film industry and be part of AMAA. The President has been involved in this initiative because she knows that it will create jobs for the youth and help bring in the much needed forex. Nollywood contributes a lot to Nigeria’s economy and Malawi can do the same,” said Chikuni.

In order to provide skilled film technicians, AMAA has gone further to offer Film-In-A-Box training which it also conducts in Nigeria, Gambia and South Africa, among other countries.

This training is available to 1, 000 young people in Blantyre, Mzuzu and Lilongwe and, according to the organisation, they have started the registration process with the majority coming from Lilongwe.

Normally charged at $1, 000, the training is free in Malawi with a nominal registration fee of K1, 000 and an additional K5, 000 for materials for those taking the film make-up course.

AMAA says it hopes a number of excellent scripts will be produced from the workshop which will be circulated among Nollywood directors and AMAA CEO Peace Osigwe says she is determined to propel Malawi into the 21st century of African movie industry.

Meanwhile the press release has also indicated that four international trainers arrive in the country this weekend to join Malawi trainers such as Shemu Joyah and Michael Phoya for the training which is running in collaboration with Film Association of Malawi (Fama).