Kunle Afolayan’s Yoruba fictional folklore film ‘Anikulapo’ broke the record of being the first ever film to have a total of 16 nominations at the African Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) but its lead actor Kunle Remi was snubbed in the ‘Best Actor’ category.
It was clear that Nollywood had upped its game by delivering top-quality movies and fans and critics witnessed a significant improvement in the quality of movies made in 2022, making the nominee list for the 9th edition of the AMVCA eagerly anticipated.
Fans and critics alike praised Kunle Remi for his acting skills as he played the lead character, Saro, a traveler in the story whose talent for fabric-making takes him through the voyage of love affairs and the ability to resurrect the dead. The actor claimed on a podcast that the role he played in Anikulapo was the biggest he had ever taken on in his more than 10 years in the film industry.
The snub has raised more concerns on social media as Bimbo Ademoye who played the female lead role in the film earned a nomination for ‘Best Actress in a Drama’ at this year’s awards while Sola Sobowale earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role in the same film. The movie was nominated in 16 categories including Best Overall Film; Cinematography; Best Indigenous Language (Yoruba); Best Writer; Best Makeup and so on.
Kunle Remi would have posed a strong contender among other nominees in the ‘Best Actor in a Drama’ category with the likes of Tobi Bakare (Brotherhood), Richard Mofe Damijo (Four Four Forty-Four), Femi Adebayo (King Of Thieves), Chidi Mokeme (Shanty Town), and Blossom Chukwujekwu (The Trade).
On social media fans reacted to the snub with one Twitter user @DirectorDiji saying “Kunle Remi gave one of the best performances in Nollywood last year. Still surprised he didn’t get nominated for Best Actor. Still one of the best though.”
Another user David Onyemaizu said, “Kunle Remi aced his role in Anikulapo. (He) should have been nominated. He’s a great actor & shows some promise when it comes to versatility.”
“Just watched #AMVCA nominations and Kunle Remi was not nominated for best actor in Anikulapo but Bimbo was nominated for best actress. How?” Twitter user, Abisola Beauty said.
Far From Home, the 2022 young adult home series produced by Netflix was also notably snubbed by AMVCA given that the series was released within the period of the year in review. The series which packed a number of young actors in lead roles became a Netflix sensation across Africa and remained in the top 10 most-viewed series in Nigeria during the first weeks of its release.
Meanwhile, Jade Osiberu inked her name as one of Nollywood’s best as she raked a combined 16 nominations for both Brotherhood; and The Trade. ‘Brotherhood ‘earned a total of 11 nominations including ‘Best Overall Film’, ‘Best Cinematography’, ‘Best Supporting Actress’ and so on. Shanty Town raked in a total of 12 nominations while Funke Akindele’s ‘Battle On Buka Street’ had a total of 11 nominations.
Femi Adebayo’s ‘King of Thieves’ got nine nominations while other projects like Four Four Forty-Four; Ile Owo; and the East African film Tembele got six nominations each.
Online voting for categories that require public voting has commenced on the DSTV African Magic website https://www.dstv.com/africamagic/en-ng/show/amvca/season/9/vote
