‘B’ella’ movie gets two nominations in AMAA 2015

After starring in several international film festivals with the recent being at the Luxor African Festival in Egypt, B'ella, a movie which was produced by Dikamawoko Arts in partnership with boNGO Worldwide, has received two nominations in the 2015 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).

The movie, which was written and directed by Tawonga Nkhonjera, has been nominated in the categories of Amaa 2015 Award for Best Young/Promising Actor and Amaa 2015 Award for Best First Feature Film by a Director.

The movie has received a nomination in the category of Best Young/Promising Actor through Vinjeru Kamanga, who is the main character starring as B'ella.

Kamanga however, will have to battle it out with Demola Adedoyin (October 1), Kemi Lala Akindoju (Dazzling Mirage), Hassan Spike

Insingoma (Boda Boda Thieves) and Chiedza Mhende (Love the one You Love).

In the category of Best First Feature Film by a Director, the movie has notched the nomination through Nkhonjera, who will have to shrug off competition from other nominees Carey Mckenzie (Cold Harbour), Jenna Bass (Love the one you love) and Destiny Ekeragha (Gone Too Far).

Nkhonjera was over the moon with the nominations, saying having picked up the nominations they were hoping to carry the day come the grand finale.

"It's great to get these nominations, we are excited and we hope to win the awards," he said.

The movie, whose cinematography was done by Peter Mazunda and Chipi Khonje and produced by Tereza Mirovicova and Zdenek Janacek, tells the story of B'ella (Vinjeru Kamanga), a 17- year old girl who lives and attends school in Chazunda, Blantyre.

Along with her friends she experiences the ups and downs of adolescent life – bullying, friendship, school, romantic advances and love, HIV and Aids.

This year's nominations were announced last Saturday in Los Angeles, USA and the grand finale is expected to be held later soon.

B'ella is the only movie from Malawi which has received nomination in the awards which have once again been dominated by Nigeria and Ghana.

The other countries whose movies have also received nominations include South Africa, Sudan, Mauritania, Egypt, Angola, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Namibia, Angola, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Cameroon.

The awards are now in the 11th year and are this year running under the theme 'The Stories never End'.

AMAA held its nomination gala for the first time in Malawi in 2013 where renowned film maker Shemu Joyah's movie The Last Fishing Boat received five nominations.

The film went on to claim one award of Best Soundtrack through musician Agorosso out of the five nominations during the grand finale in Nigeria.

Last year there was one nomination for the country for actress Joyce Mhango Chavula for Best Feature Film by Director for her movie No More Tears but she failed to make it.

AMAA is a platform that projects African film industry to Africa and the rest of the world. It is a celebration of honouring excellence in African film making and cinema.