African cinema continues to receive attention across the world, particularly in the UK and the prestigious Screen Nation Awards scheduled October 16 at the O2 Indigo, London will honour some of the continent’s brightest and most talented entertainers for their contributions to the African Movie Industry.
This is the first time Africa is receiving nominations at the prestigious awards which has been touted as the Black BAFTAs in the UK, acknowledging the best in Black-British talent in film and television for over seven years. There are 22 categories in this year’s awards. The 22 categories includes; Diversity in Drama Production, Favourite Urban Movie, Cinema Director, Favourite International Film (US), Favourite Male Screen Personality (US Film/TV) and Fovourite Female Screen Personality (US Film/TV).

Ghana and Nigeria are drawn in the Favourite West African Film, Favourite West African Actor and Favourite West African Actress categories, the only nominations for Africa. Ghanaian films, Perfect Picture and Sinking Sands have both been drawn against Ije, Inale, The Figurine and The Mirror Boy from Nigeria in the Favourite West African Film category.

Actors John Dumelo and Majid Michel from Ghana are nominated alongside  Nigeria’s Mike Ezuruonye, Osita Iheme, Ramsey Noah and Hakeem Kae Kazim in the Favourite West African Actor category. For the Favourite West African Actress category, nominees include Ama K Abebrese and Jackie Appiah of Ghana, Nigeria’s Funke Akindele, Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jolade and Mercy Johnson.

Hollywood entertainers like Denzel Washington, Anthony Mackie, Hill Harper, Michael K. Williams, Tyler Perry and others have also been nominated for this year’s Screen Nation Awards.  The awards has over the years awarded several international stars including; Ice Cube, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Queen Latifah, Halle Berry, Wesley Snipes, Danny Glover, Nia Long, Kwame Kwei Armah and John Akomfrah.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PFHrNghAVk&feature=player_embedded

Special honourees for this year include: Sir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trindadian-British newsreader and journalist; Clarke Peters an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon in the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire; Stunt woman Amanda Foster who doubled as Halle Berry and won a Taurus World Stunt Award for her fight scene in Die Another Day; Burning an Illusion, a British film about a young British-born black woman who begins to question her attitude to love, life and her desire for middle-class respectability and security through marriage; and The Real McCoy, a BBC Television comedy show which ran from 1991 to 1996, featuring an array of talented black comedy actors Felix Dexter, Robbie Gee, Judith Jacob, Eddie Nestor, Junior Simpson and Curtis Walker