Africa's film industry celebrates growth at 12th annual awards ceremony

 In Lagos, Nigeria, the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) marked its 12th edition on Saturday (May 9) celebrating its brightest stars on the continent, and honouring excellence across 32 award categories.

Uzor Arukwe won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in "Colours of Fire," while Linda Ejiofor took home Best Actress in a Leading Role for "The Serpent's Gift."

"I just want to say thank you to God almighty. I'm in shock, I'm trying to catch my breath, I never saw this coming," Arukwe said as he accepted his award, surrounded by friends who joined him on stage.

The star-studded ceremony in Lagos showcased African cinema's growing continental reach. Cameroon secured its first-ever AMVCA win under the category - Best Indigenous Film (Central Africa), for director Kang Quintus' work "Mabanda".

This year's theme, "Honouring Craft, Celebrating Culture," highlighted the awards' focus on recognizing both technical excellence and African cultural storytelling.

Kemi Omotosho, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria, said this year's ceremony featured expanded nominations from across Africa. "AMVCA is not about Nigeria, it is about Africa," she said.

The ceremony also honoured movie veterans with the Industry Merit Award. Veteran Nigerian actor and lawyer Kanayo O. Kanayo, was one of the honourees.

"There's been an upgrade in our innovation, technology and so on," Kanayo said.

The red carpet drew numerous celebrities including Nigerian/American actress Osas Ighodaro and filmmaker Toyin Abraham.

Production: Kazeem Sanni, Angela Ukomadu/Reuters