Nollywood actor Femi Adebayo celebrated a major win at the 20th Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), held on Saturday in Lagos. Adebayo earned the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for his work in the historical thriller Jagun Jagun, which also won the Achievement Award in Visual Effects and Make-up.

Other winners included Elsie Abang, who was awarded Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in KIPKEMBOI, and Michell Lemuya, who was named Best Young Promising Actor for NAWI. Zolisa Xaluva took home Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Queenstown King, while Jackie Appiah won Best Actress in a Leading Role for Red Carpet.

Letters to Goddo by Harry Bentil was honoured with Best Feature Film by a Director, and The Queenstown Kings’ Jahmil X.T Qubeka received Best Director. Additionally, Souleymane Cissé from Mali, Nacer Khemir from Tunisia, and Haile Gerima from Ethiopia were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards. At the same time, Alain Gomis (Senegal and Gabon) and Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) received Special Recognition Awards.

The AMAA Best Film Award went to The Weekend, which also won awards for Screenplay, Cinematography, and the National Film and Video Censors Board Award for Best Nigerian Film. Other notable wins included Out of Bound for Achievement in Production, Boda Love for Soundtrack, Mai Martaba for Costume Design, and Queenstown King for Sound. Under The Hanging Tree received the Achievement in Editing award.

In the short film category, Uganda’s The Last Shoemaker won the Efere Ozako Award for Best Short Film, while Kenya’s Counter Punch took home the Jubril Malafia Best Animation Award. The Best Documentary Award went to Mozambique’s The Nearest Smell of Gun Powder.

Other honours included the Michael Anyiam-Osigwe Award for Best Film by an African Living Abroad, which went to Under the Hanging Tree (Namibia), and South Africa’s The Queenstown King, which earned the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language.

Outlaw Posse won Best Diaspora Narrative Feature in the diaspora category, The Wu-Tang Clan Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre earned Best Diaspora Documentary, and The Neighborhood Alert took Best Diaspora Short.

Dr. Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe, CEO of AMAA, extended his gratitude to all who supported the ceremony, including the states of Lagos and Bayelsa and international guests from the U.S., calling AMAA a significant event that brings African stories to the global stage.