This year’s African Movie Academy Awards (AMAAs) has been moved from its regular venue of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria to Lagos, Nigeria, a source has said. The awards aimed at honouring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well as uniting the African continent through arts and culture has since its inception in 2005 been hosted in the Bayelsa State with only one edition being held in Abuja, Nigeria. This will be the second time the prestigious awards will be held outside its home, Yenagoa, since it hosted the first edition of the awards on May 30 2005. The 2008 edition of the awards was moved to Abuja, Nigeria due to security concerns. With the exception of the nominees’ party which has been held in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Burkina Faso, the awards night has never been staged outside Nigeria. Winners for this year’s awards, themed: Africa Rising, will therefore be announced at a glittering ceremony on April 22, in Lagos and it will be hosted by Heroes and Sinking Sands star Jimmy Jean-Louis. The 2012 awards, which will host some the continent’s finest actors, actresses, directors and producers, tipped to be the biggest yet, received a total of 328 entries from across Africa, up from 220 in 2011. The entries included 134 feature films, 88 short films, 57 documentaries and six animations. 43 entries came from Africans in the Diaspora, with the other entries coming from 23 countries across the continent. The awards’ jury announced nominations for this year’s 24-category awards at a glitz and glamour event at the Kamaira Beach Hotel, Banjul, Gambia Saturday. In all, Nigeria received 52 nominations followed by South Africa which had 45 nominations. Ghana had 17, Kenya 14, Uganda 5, Tanzania 3, while Algeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe received a nomination each. There were also nominations for the Diaspora entries from America, Canada, France, Germany, Guadalupe, Italy, Jamaica, and the UK.