Ramsey Nouah emerges AMAA Actor of the Year Award

Popular Nollywood actor Ramsey Noah on
Saturday emerged the Best Actor of the
year at the African Movie Academy (AMAA)
Award held in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State
capital.
The award was for his spectacular
performance in the flick, The Figurine,
which also emerged the best film of the
year.
The sixth AMAA award was witnessed by an
array of movie stars from Nigeria, Ghana,
Kenya and the Diaspora. Two American
movie stars, Ms C.C.H Pounder and Glynn
Turner, also attended the event.
Nollywood acts alone carted away nine of
the twenty-four awards handed out
including Cinematography and Visual Effects
of the year won by the film The Figurine.
Ghanaian, Ugandan and Kenyan movie
industries also proved that they had a
considerable acting and production talents
as they carted away awards in eleven
categories including the Best Actress of the
year won by the duo of Ashaku Mensa-
Doku and Lydia Forson in a movie The
Perfect picture.
In his speech, Governor Timipre Sylva of
Bayelsa said though the economy of the
state and indeed the nation needed all the
revenue that could be accruable, his
administration is convinced its investment
in the AMAA is not wasted as the award has
shown to the world that the state and the
Niger Delta is safe and ready for tourism,
which is the new forte for Bayelsa.
Sylva noted that the continued hosting of
the event would encourage the anticipated
investors to come to the state to invest and
also come into a Public-Private Partnership
initiative with the state government.
“This administration places huge
importance on arts and culture for the
promotion of the African values. We will
encourage home grown talents.
“Beyond the glamour of the award, it is
expected that the talents discovered would
be used to correct the wrong impression
about the African continent. I hope they
would be used to switch the paradigm from
the negative to the positive story of the
African people and culture.
Use it to tell the story that Bayelsa State is
safe for investors to come,” he said.
The Chairman of the state Hosting
Committee and Director-General of the
Tourism Bureau, Mr. Nathan Egba, said the
state shares a mutually benefiting
relationship with the AMMA organization,
which has helped to promote the fielding
tourism industry of the state over the years.
Addressing the huge gathering of movie
stars, producers and politicians, the
representative of the Group Executive
Director, Communications of the United
Bank of Africa (UBA), Mr. Charles Aigbe, said
the relationship between the bank and
AMAA award had hit three years and the
partnership was in furtherance of the firm
belief of the bank in the promotion of the
African culture through the movie industry.
In her comment on the noticeable
developments in the African Movie industry,
the Chairperson of the Award Jury
Committee, Keith Shiri, said though the
number of entries for the awards for 2010
increased with over 280 entries received
for 24 categories, the harsh economic
condition grossly affected the industry with
a reduction in film production and exit of
professionals from the industry.
Shiri, however, noted that the few movies
produced and submitted for entry for the
award showed an improvement in technical
and production expertise and increased
number of the involvement of the women
behind the cameras.