Ghanaian legendary actress Grace Omaboe has been chosen as president of the jury for the 2017 edition of the Golden Movie Awards Africa (GMAA). The actress popularly known as Maame Dokono was voted by other members of the jury to be their president.
As president of the jury, Grace Omaboe will preside over all meetings of the jury and would ensure that the jury applies all the rules and standards set for the scheme to ensure that only deserving nominees win awards in each of the categories.
The organisers of the popular pan-African movie awards, NMJ Ghana has also added new faces to the jury for the 2017 awards. They are Ken Addy, a radio presenter with Joy FM and member of the Ghana Cinematography Board of Control and Asare Hackman of Hacky Films and also a member of the Cinematography Board.
Director of the Golden Movie Awards Africa, Mimi Andani described the addition of the two gentlemen as very important for the organisers as they bring a world of experience to the scheme.
“For us at the GMAA it has been a conscious effort every year, since we started this project, to ensure that we improve on the next one,” she said. “We know the second edition of the awards was an improvement on the first one and we are aiming to ensure the third edition will be an improvement on the second one. It is the reason we have been doing all the necessary things to ensure we meet that objective, including adding these experienced gentlemen to the jury.”
In a related development, sound engineer and entertainment critic, Fred Kyei Mensah has been appointed as the spokesperson for the jury of the 2017 edition of the GMAA. Fredima, as he is known in showbiz circles, has been a member of the jury since the inception of the GMAA and the jury hopes he would bring his wealth of experience to the new appointment.
GMAA gives the opportunity to African filmmakers from around the world to receive praise, recognition and be awarded for their efforts at telling the African stories to both Africans and the rest of the world by submitting their works for consideration each year.
This year the scheme requested films of all genres and lengths with any official language or subtitled in any official language. All films received will be screened and shortlisted by the Selection Committee based on the awards’ criteria for the consideration of the jury.
Award-winning films in the various categories of the scheme will be chosen based on merit and the content of the films by the jury made up of experienced filmmakers and film industry practitioners of different nationalities. Only films made between 1st January 2016 and 31st January 2017 would be considered for in the 2017 edition of awards.
To make fair and just decisions in its choice for the various winners at the GMAA, the jury will consider relevant African stories, relevant methods of storytelling, technical excellence and other important factors of filmmaking.
In an earlier statement, Mimi Andani noted how there had been increase in the submission of films for this year’s edition when it closed on May 10. “We are glad to announce that by close of submissions the GMAA had received films from different African countries with 44.8% more entries received this year compared to last year.”
She also noted that entries for this year’s event came from West, East, Central and Southern Africa. Countries from which entries were received include Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leon, Cameroon, South Africa and Kenya.
According to Mimi Andani, more entries were received from Ghanaian filmmakers than from the other countries. “During the first two GMAA events, Nigeria topped the list of films received, however, Ghana has taken over this year with a lot of series and short films,” she mentioned.
This year’s event, which is scheduled to take place on July 8 in Accra, is the third edition and consequently will see three legends of the African film industry (to be chosen by the jury) being awarded.
The annual GMAA is an initiative by NMJ Ghana and its Ghanaian and international partners to reward excellence in filmmaking on the Africa continent and among Africans in the diaspora.
Signed: Francis Doku
Director of Communications
Golden Movie Awards Africa