US-based Ghanaian filmmaker Blitz Bazawule and young actress Cynthia Dankwa were among the list of winners at the 2019 edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).
The 15th edition of the awards held on Sunday, at the Landmark event centre in Lagos, Nigeria, was a star-studded one which saw some stakeholders in the African movie industry received honours for their work.
Young actress Cynthia was adjudged Best Young/Promising Actor Dankwa’’ for her role as Esi in ‘The Burial of Kojo’.
Blitz Bazawule, who is well-known as rapper Bazaar, received an award for his directorial debut ‘The Burial of Kojo’.
He beat follow Ghanaian Nicole Amarteifo (Before the Vows) (Ghana, Nigeria’s Adekunle “Nodash” Adejuyigbe (The Delivery Boy) and Tanzania’s Sippy Chadha – Subira to win ‘Best Director-First Feature Film’.
‘The Burial of Kojo’ is a 2018 drama film set in Ghana, written and directed by Blitz Bazawule.
Filmed entirely in Ghana on a micro-budget, with local crew and several first-time actors, the film tells the story of Kojo (Joseph Otsiman), who is left to die in an abandoned gold mine, as his young daughter Esi (newcomer Cynthia Dankwa) travels through a spirit land to save him.
The film was produced by Blitz Bazawule, Ama Abebrese and Kwaku Obeng Boateng.
It had its world premiere in New York on September 21, 2018, at the Urban World Film Festival, where it was recognized as Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema). It is distributed by ARRAY and was released on the popular streaming service Netflix on March 21, 2019, making it the first Ghanaian film to premiere in selected countries worldwide, on Netflix.
Saturday’s event was hosted by multi-talented actress Lala Akindoju, comedian Funnybone and Lorenzo Menakaya.