Press Release
AMAA2020Nominations
The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) announces Hon. Steve Oluseyi Ayorinde as President of the Jury for the year 2020. Hon. Steve Oluseyi Ayorinde has been the Chairman of the Governing Council for AMAA for over ten years, a pioneer member of the Academy, who has been with the Academy for sixteen years.
Steve Oluseyi Ayorinde is the immediate past Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State in Nigeria. Before that, he was the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, sworn in by His Excellency the Governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode on 19 October 2015. He was also previously the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of the National Mirror newspaper, and before that, the Editor of The Punch newspaper in Nigeria.
He is also regarded as one of Nigeria’s best-renowned film and art critics, who has served on the Juries for some of the world’s most recognised film festivals and awards, such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, AMAA, and Mumbai International Film Festival. He is returning from a sabbatical of 4 years to his normal circuit which is the film industry. This is the second time he would be the President of the AMAA Jury.
This year has been a compelling and interesting year with the COVID-19 pandemic and we cannot think of a more seasoned personality that can embrace what the film industry is going through at the moment.
The announcement of the nominations will be on the 30th of November, 2020, and the AMA Awards ceremony will be held on the 20th of December, 2020.
This year, due to the pandemic, there has been delays and date changes because we have been hoping for the world to open up so we can congregate physically for the AMAAs.
Film is about team and networking, rooms filled with happiness, laughter, wine, dances, and jubilations, for the year’s hard work. But unfortunately, the COVID-19 has made it impossible, as the world goes through the second wave of lockdowns and Nigeria has her protest issues of the #EndSARS dilemma—where youths are reaching out for the rejuvenation of the values of togetherness, of a better Nigeria and Africa.
As we still come together, for the 16th edition of AMAA, it is to reward African cinema, and to embrace that we have been working even in these troubling and trial times.
We pray that every single filmmaker will be healed and can survive this pandemic both physically commercially and economically, as the world has seen our industry completely drained by the complexities of our inability to work at this time.
However, as we say in the show business, ‘the show must go on.’ Please log on to all our networks for the nominees announcement on the 30th of November, 2020, and watch out for AMAA 2020 on December, 20th, 2020, as we celebrate Christmas and celebrate African cinema—which this year, will be the 16th edition of African Movie Award with the theme HOPE because that is what we have Hope. And our hope will not fail us.