Executive director Ayuko Babu and director of programming and general counsel Asantewa Olatunji will serve as jurors at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), set for Saturday, March 26 in Yenegoa, Bayelsa.
LOS ANGELES – Fresh off the heels of the 19th annual Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), representatives from the film festival are heading to Motherland to celebrate the best in African filmmaking at this year’s “African Oscars.” Executive director Ayuko Babu and director of programming and general counsel Asantewa Olatunji will serve as jurors at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), set for Saturday, March 26 in Yenegoa, Bayelsa. Babu and Olatunji were selected as permanent international jurors for this prestigious international awards ceremony.
“Asantewa and I are delighted to be representing the Pan African Film Festival at this prestigious awards ceremony,” said Babu. “We get a wonderful opportunity to see the best of African filmmaking with the option of bringing those films to our audience in the States.”
In fact, PAFF screened some of the films nominated for the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) – including, “Anchor Baby,” nominated for Best Film for African Abroad; “Precipice,” nominated for Best Diaspora Short Film; as well as Best Film nominees, “Viva Riva,” “Sinking Sands” and “Soul Boy.” Interestingly, Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis (“Heroes”) was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in “Sinking Sands.”
PAFF is America’s largest and most prestigious international Black film festival, which took place from February 16 to 23, 2011 at the Culver Plaza Theatre. The festival took movie goers on a cinematic journey with screenings from around the world – that is, such countries as Angola, Austria, Bermuda, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, South African, Nigeria, and of course, the United States.
It selected a total of 121 films, representing 31 countries, 75 feature length films (narrative and documentaries) and 46 short films. The festival handed out prizes for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Narrative Feature, and Best First Feature Film, as well as audience favorite awards.
About the Pan African Film Festival
PAFF was founded in 1992 by award-winning actor Danny Glover (“The Color Purple,” “Lethal Weapon” movie franchise), Emmy Award-winning actress Ja’Net DuBois (best known for her role as the busybody neighbor Willona in the tv series, “Good Times”) and executive director, Ayuko Babu, an international legal, cultural and political consultant who specializes in African Affairs. PAFF is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of ethnic and racial respect and tolerance through the exhibit of films, art and creative expression.
The goal of PAFF is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images, help to destroy negative stereotypes and depict an expanded vision of the Black experience. PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.
For more information, visit www.paff.org.