Ms. Mimi Andani, Director of the Golden Movie Awards Africa (GMAA), has announced that the 2017 edition of the awards will be held on July 8 2017 in Accra.

“We are very delighted about the third anniversary of the awards and we are looking forward to it,” she said.

“We have taken the feedback from the previous event in good faith and although we had a great show last year, we intend to even make it greater come July 8th.” Venue for this year’s awards will announced later, she added.

Ms. Andani made the announcement when she addressed journalists and bloggers during the media launch for the event held at the newly established International Students and Guest Centre at Teiman near Abokobi on Tuesday.

She called on filmmakers in Africa, who have works produced between January 1, 2016 and January 31, 2017, to submit them for consideration in the 2017 edition of the awards.

“The process of the GMAA begins with the opening of entries for filmmakers to submit their works and this year has been no exception,” she said.

“Since April 1 we have been asking filmmakers in Africa and the African diaspora to submit their works and thus far we have had encouraging response from across the continent. This will go on until May 10 when entries will close officially.”

She took the media through the procedure for submitting of films for the GMAA. She urged producers to visit www.goldenmovieawards.com, download the forms, fill them out, add your 3 DVDs and submit them through DHL.

“The scheme is accepting films of all genres and lengths with any official language or subtitled in any official language. All films presented shall be watched by the Selection Committee and a shortlist made based on the awards’ criteria for the consideration of the Grand Jury,” she emphasized.

According to her, the theme for this year’s celebration is “Empowering the African Filmmaker”. They settled on the theme because they believe there is the need to empower the African filmmaker in all aspects and that, they “shall use the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of the GMAA to do so.”

“As part of empowering the African filmmaker in the 3rd year of the GMAA, we shall give special recognition to three film industry personalities who have contributed immensely to the growth of the African film industry over the years in different roles. These three people, who will be selected by our eminent jury, would be recognized and rewarded on the night of the main event.”

As part of exploiting the 3rd anniversary theme, there would be three ambassadors for the 2017 edition of the GMAA. “We are currently finalizing talks with these ambassadors we have chosen and when all is done, we shall announce their names,” Ms. Andani told the media.

The Chief Executive Officer of the GMAA Mr. Sosthenes Galevo, said the organisers of the event would seek to make it a better event every year to ensure that all stakeholders and partners get the best out of it. He said the event is a pan-continental one and as such they would try to ensure that all regional interests were well represented.

On his part, the Communication Director of the GMAA, Mr. Francis Doku commended the media for supporting the scheme since its inception and appealed for its continued support.

The Golden Movie Awards Africa (GMAA) is an annual event that seeks to award excellence in movie making on the African continent and the African diaspora.

Instituted and organized by NMJ Ghana and its partners, the GMAA brings together professionals in filmmaking in Africa once every year to celebrate, promote and reward those who have excelled in their area of the film industry.

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