By Ogova Ondego
Published February 28, 2013

Submission to the 9th annual Africa Movie Academy Awards has increased two-fold in 2013; the number of films submitted has jumped from 300 in 2012 to stand at 678 in 2013, with the largest number coming from Francophone Africa.

Shaibu Husseini, a member of the AMA Awards Jury and coordinator of the College of Screeners, says out of the 678 films, 325 were fictional features from Africa, 97 Diaspora documentaries and fictional works, 60 African documentaries, 184 short films and 12 animations.

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“This year is a milestone for AMAA as the award will hold its 9th edition and surprisingly the French speaking African countries have finally embraced the award as the best and biggest in Africa,” Husseini said in Lagos on February 25 as the College of Screeners headed to Banjul in The Gambia for its work. “I want to give kudos to the promoters of this award for the commitment and dedication. It is a lot of hard work to really get the French speaking countries to believe in AMAA.”

“We have entries from Togo, Congo, Cote d’voire , Mali, Niger, Benin, Guinea, Senegal and Cameroon. We are happy about this development. The promoters of AMAA have ensured that the integrity of the award remains unassailable and this account for the level of huge participation across Africa and the Diaspora.”

Husseini also says that filmmakers from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, The Gambia, Zimbabwe and Sudan entered their films for the 9th AMAA.

“From Diaspora filmmakers we received entries from United States, Brazil, Singapore, UK, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. This is a fitting way to celebrate the 9th edition of AMAA,” Husseini said in Banjul on February 28, 2013.

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On how far the screeners have gone with their work, Husseini explained that the College of Screeners started full camp on February 25, 2013 in the Gambian capital of Gambia with 15 members drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroun, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo.

“Before the camping stage, all the films were pre-selected by members of the academy’s pre-selectors scattered across Africa. At the pre-camp stage films are pruned down based on entry rules: films that are more than 120 minutes long; films that are inconclusive; language films or films in vernacular that are not sub-titled in English and films that are generally of poor quality,” Husseini said.