The 1st Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards ceremony was sponsored by Amstel Malta and the awards were presented by

MultiChoice MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...

. It took place on 9 March 2013 at the Exhibition Center,

Eko Hotels and Suites Eko Hotels and Suites is a five-star conference centre hotel in Lagos. History Established in 1977 as ''Èkó Holiday Inn'' and built on Victoria Island, it is the largest hotel in Nigeria. It was designed by architect Oluwole Olumuyiwa in co ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria. The awards honour excellence in television, film, and digital content creation in the African entertainment industry. The awards ceremony was televised by DStv and

GOtv GOtv is a pay television terrestrial service in sub-Saharan Africa owned by broadcaster MultiChoice and launched on 5 September 2011. It mainly consists of African and international programming. History The terrestrial TV service was founded ...

. Vimbai Mutinhiri and

IK Osakioduwa Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa (born May 21, 1979) is a Nigerian radio and television on-air personality. He was known to most just as Wildchild but since his marriage, has been known as simply IK. He is known for his work with Rhythm 93.7 FM, but he is ...

hosted the show. '' Otelo Burning'' had 14 nominations, closely followed by '' The Mirror Boy'' with 11, and ''

Man on Ground A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the father ...

'' with 10. ''Otelo Burning'' won four awards including Best Picture. Other notable winners included

OC Ukeje Okechukwu Ukeje, known as OC Ukeje is Nigerian actor,Model (person), model and musician. He came into prominence after winning the Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO) reality show. He has received several awards including Africa Movie Academy Awards, ...

, who won Best Actor in a Drama for his role in '' Two Brides and a Baby'', and Jackie Appiah, who won Best Actress in a Drama for her performance in '' Perfect Picture''. Afeez Oyetoro and

Mercy Johnson Mercy Johnson Okojie (; born 28 August 1984) is a Nigerian actress, film director and producer. Early life Okojie was born as the fourth out of seven children of Daniel Johnson, a former naval officer, and his wife, Elizabeth. She was born in L ...

were awarded Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy for ''House Apart'' and ''Dumebi the Dirty Girl'', respectively. The awards ceremony also honoured

Ivie Okujaye Ivie Okujaye Egboh (born 16 May 1987) is a Nigerian actress, film producer, scriptwriter, dancer, singer and activist. In 2009, she participated in and won the '' Amstel Malta Box Office'' (AMBO) reality TV show. She is sometimes called ''litt ...

with the Trailblazer Award and

Olu Jacobs Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, (born 11 July 1942), known professionally as Olu Jacobs, is a veteran Nigerian actor and film executive. He began his career starring in several British television series and international films. ''Vanguard'' describ ...

with the Industry Merit Award.

Background

On 20 September 2012,

Africa Magic Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. ''Africa Magic'', which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and no ...

and

announced their creation of the

Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards The ''Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards'' (AMVCA) are a set of accolades presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film across Africa,, through an annual ceremony hosted in the Exhibition Center of the Eko ...

during the special episode of the Africa Magic magazine show ''Jara''. The awards recognised African films, actors and actresses, and consisted of 26 categories and two honours for different roles in acting, directing, scriptwriting, cinematography, editing, makeup, sound, lighting and costuming. Among the 26 categories, six depended on votes of the viewers while others were selected by the panel of judges led by Femi Odugbemi. Other members of the judging panel included Allison Triegaardt, Armand-Guy de Beer, Bongiwe Selane, Deborah Odutayo, Ebou Waggeh, Eileen Sandrock, Njoki Muhoho, Phad Mutumba and Richard West.

Ceremony

The awards ceremony was held on 9 March 2013 at the Exhibition Center,

located in Lagos. The awards ceremony was broadcast on television by DStv and

, and was hosted by Zimbabwean media personality Vimbai Mutinhiri and ''

Big Brother Africa ''Big Brother Africa'' is the African version of the international reality television franchise ''Big Brother'' created by producer John de Mol Jr. in 1997. The show was first aired in 2003 for one season on M-Net and broadcast to audiences i ...

'' presenter

. Films were submitted by producers without fee. The submission ended on 31 October 2012 at 9pm

CAT The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

. The nominees were announced in early December 2012 during a special edition of

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

s lifestyle TV program, ''53 Extra''. The highest nominated works included: '' Otelo Burning'' (14), '' The Mirror Boy'' (11), and ''

'' (10). Other multiple nominated titles included '' Perfect Picture'' (8), '' Two Brides and a Baby'' (7), ''

Maami ''Maami'' (, ) is a 2011 Nigerian drama film produced and directed by Tunde Kelani. It is based on a novel of the same name, written by Femi Osofisan, and adapted to screen by Tunde Babalola. It stars Funke Akindele as Maami, along with Wol ...

'' (5), and ''

Skeem ''Skeem'' is a 2011 South African movie that was written and directed by Tim Greene. It premiered on 16 October 2011 at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it won the Audience's Choice Award, and opened to local theaters in South Africa later that ...

'' (5). According to Nigerian newspaper ''

Premium Times ''Premium Times'' is a Nigerian online newspaper based in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. The newspaper was launched in 2011. The online medium is notable for investigative journalism and reports, among other fields. Recognition * Nominated ...

'', the 110 nominees were chosen from 43 different film producers from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, and Uganda.

Sara Blecher Sara Blecher (born Gauteng) is a South African director and producer. Biography Originally from South Africa, Blecher's family moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1981, when she was 12 years old. Her family is originally of Jewish Lithuanian origin ...

's ''Otelo Burning'' won four awards including Best Picture, Best Art Director, Best Make-up Artist and Best Lighting Designer.

Akin Omotoso Akin Omotoso (born 1974) is a Nigerian film director, writer, and actor. He is best known for directing the 2022 film '' Rise''. Both his father Kole Omotoso and his sister Yewande Omotoso are also writers. Early life and education Omotoso ...

's ''Man On Ground'' also won four awards including Best Movie Director, Best Cinematographer (for Paul Michelson), Best Picture Editor (for Aryan Kaganof) and Best Sound Editor (for Michael Botha and Joel Assaizky); Obi Emelonye's ''The Mirror Boy'' won three awards including Best Movie Drama, Best Writer Drama and Best Costume Designer (for Ngozi Obazi); South African director Tim Greene's ''Skeem'' won two awards: Best Movie Comedy and Best Writer Comedy. The organisers didn't name nominees for two categories: Best Documentary and Best Online Video; according to the organisers, the selection team preferred to present it as certificates of encouragement to all entrants. The awards ceremony was sponsored by Amstel Malta and the awards were presented by

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and are indicated by .

References

{{Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2013 film awards 2013 in Lagos 2013 in Nigerian cinema Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards ceremonies Entertainment events in Nigeria March 2013 in Nigeria