How 2 Steal 2 Million wins four prizes at the African Movie Academy Awards

South African noir thriller How 2 Steal 2 Million was the big winner at the eighth Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) on April 22.

Charlie Vundla’s debut film picked up best director, best film, best supporting actress for Terry Pheto and best achievement in editing.

Nigeria’s Benin-set historical epic Adesuwa was a close second with three awards, for costume design, visual effects, and best Nigerian film.

Hosted by Jimmy Jean-Louis the awards were held at The Expo Centre, Eko Hotel & Suite in Lagos, Nigeria.

South Africa’s crime drama State Of Violence won best film in an African language and best achievement in sound.

Man On Ground, a Nigerian/South African xenophobia-themed co-production, won the special jury award, given for only the third time since the inception of AMAA, and best supporting actor for South African Fana Mokoena.

Rita Dominic was named best actress for her role in Kenyan film Shattered, while Ghanaian Majid Michel won best actor for his role in Somewhere In Africa.

Danny Glover’s Toussaint Louverture was named best diaspora film.

Nigeria was the most awarded country on the night, receiving 12 awards. South Africa followed with 10.

A jury statement said: “This year may prove to be the beginning of a new era for AMAA. Not only did AMAA witness an unprecedented number of film submissions, from more countries throughout the African continent and its diaspora, it also witnessed a remarkable increase in the quality of the films submitted indeed the task of selecting the ‘best’ in each category has been challenging.”