Ghana will host this year’s nomination party for the prestigious annual African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) on February 26. The nomination party which over the years has moved from country to country ahead of the main event in Nigeria is expected to be a grand assembly of delegates and nominees from across Africa.

Ghana has over the years made tremendous contributions to the awards by competing with other movies from across the continent; and would join the list of previous hosts of the nominations gala such as South Africa and Burkina Faso. Though Kenya bid to play host this year, Ghana was chosen due to her impressive showing and surprise wins at the 2008 edition of the awards when ‘Run Baby Run’ cleared all major awards that year.

Delegates and nominees are expected to arrive in Accra from February 24 to grace the glamorous gathering of the best actors, film producers, directors that Africa has to offer. Plans are far advanced to have Senegalese icon Yossou Ndour perform at the Nominations Gala at the Banquet Hall come February 26. Also performing on the night would be some of the best Ghanaian musicians and Nigerian comedians.

The AMAA is an offshoot of the African Film Academy and was founded in 2005. It is founded on the best film traditions and is geared towards research, training and propagating film-making in Africa. Behind it are film producers, directors, designers, writers, critics and scholars who share in the belief of a renaissance of the African film industry. AMAA is thus conceptualized as an annual celebration of the brightest and the best in African movie. It is the biggest gathering of moviemakers across the African continent and the Diaspora. Some notable guests who have graced the event are Danny Glover, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Courtney Vance, Marian Makeba, Vivica A. Fox, Angela Basset, Forrest Whitaker and Salif Keita.

The deadline for all submissions was December 30, 2009; the late entry deadline was January 7, 2010. After nominations are announced in Accra, the award ceremony will be held on April 10, 2010 and it will be televised across the world. The venue for the ceremony has however not been confirmed yet.