NOMINEES FOR AMAA 2012 BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Nse Ikpe Etim - Mr & Mrs

2. Yvonne Okoro - Single Six

3. Ama K. Abebrese - Ties That Bind

4. Rita Dominic - Shattered

5. Uche Jombo - Damage

6. Millicent Makheido - 48

7. Kudzai Sevenzo-Nyarai - Playing Warriors

The competition for the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) 2012 Best Actress in a Leading Role will definitely be between the Nigerian actresses Rita Dominic for Shattered, Nse Ikpe Etim for Mr & Mrs and Uche Jumbo for Damage versus the South African actresses Millicent Makheido for 48 and Kudzai Sevenzo for Playing Warriors.

The nominees for the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) 2012 Best Actress in a Leading Role are among the best actresses in the continent and from all the reviews by film critics, everyone of them deserves to win the highly coveted trophy, but the prize can only be won by one actress.

Of the three leading Nigerian actresses, I am tipping Rita Dominic, because she gave an Oscar performance in her gripping role as Keziah Njema in the Kenyan movie Shattered by Gilbert Lukalia and is the most challenging in all her years of acting so far.

Rita Dominic in Shattered.

Nse Ikpe Etim as Mrs. Abba in Mr & Mrs by Ikechukwu Onyeka is not the best she can do so far as she admitted herself.

“Let me say that my most challenging role hasn’t come yet. I am grateful to the directors I have worked with and their impact on me. I am also grateful for those productions, but I still think that we can go further. I haven’t reached the point that I will say I can’t do this anymore. So I think I still have the most challenging roles ahead of me. It is still yet to come,” Nse said

Yvonne Okoro as Titania in Pascal Amanfo‘s Single Six is commendable, but cannot be compared to Rita Dominic’s role as the troubled young woman Keziah Njema whose traumatic childhood in a seemingly ideal middle class family becomes a precursor to a life of turmoil, depression, and self destructive behaviour. This role brought out the best in Rita’s acting prowess beyond all the previous roles she has played in scores of Nollywood movies.

Yvonne Okoro in Single Six

Rita’s closest challenger in this psychoanalytical scenario is Uche Jombo as Sarah in Moses Inwang’s Damage as she really portrayed the manic depressive insanity of a traumatized abused woman for which film critics have said is her best performance to date.

Uche Jumbo in Damage