Dani Kouyaté’s Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Katanga, la Danse des Scorpions) emerged the most nominated film, running in ten categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, and the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language.
By Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku
The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) has returned for its twenty-first year of celebrating excellence in African filmmaking, with the nominees for the 2025 edition announced in Lagos on Saturday night.
Dani Kouyaté’s Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Katanga, la Danse des Scorpions) emerged the most nominated film, running in ten categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, and the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language.
This feat is not unexpected, considering the Burkinabé film’s historic Golden Stallion win at this year’s Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), one of the continent’s most prestigious film festivals.
Close behind, in nine categories, are South Africa’s The Heart Is a Muscle and Uganda’s Small Gods, the feature debuts of Imran Hamdulay and Asher Rosen respectively, which earned spots in the Best Film, Best Director, and the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language categories, as well as Best Debut Feature.
The Heart Is a Muscle had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and was officially selected as South Africa’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2026 Academy Awards (Oscars). Interestingly, Old Righteous Blues, South Africa’s submission to the 2025 Oscars, also makes its mark at this year’s AMAAs with six nominations.
Other strong contenders for this year’s AMAAs are Ethiopia’s For Love, For Land, For Power and Nigeria’s 3 Cold Dishes, each with eight nominations, as well as Algeria’s Algiers and Nigeria’s Lisabi: The Uprising which received seven nods each. All four films will also compete for Best Film and Best Director.
Nigeria’s Freedom Way ties with Ghana’s Last Stop for five nominations, with the latter represented in Best Film and Best Director. Surprisingly, Freedom Way, which took home the coveted Best Movie and Best Writing (Movie) awards at this year’s Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (both jury-voting categories), missed out on Best Film, Best Director, and Achievement in Screenplay.
Nonetheless, the Blessing Uzzi-produced feature gained five nominations, including nominations for Best Debut Feature and the National Film and Video Censors Board Award for Best Nigerian Film.
There are notable events in the acting categories, as well. Perhaps the most significant is the Best Lead Actor nomination of Debebe Eshetu, the acclaimed Ethiopian actor and filmmaker who passed on in August 2025. This is the late veteran’s first nomination in the category, and a potential win would make him the second actor to be posthumously awarded the Best Leading Actor, after Justus Esiri, the late Nigerian veteran actor, in 2013.
This year also comes with a potential child actor win for Best Young/Promising Actor, with the category dominated by child actors this edition. On the other hand, Nigeria’s Ruby Akubueze (though not a child actor, but still young enough) is nominated in the category for the second time in a row for, following her nomination for her role in She at the 2024 awards.
In addition, all three female leads of 3 Cold Dishes are listed together in the Best Lead Actress category in addition to seven other actresses from different films. Considering that eight nominees is the current standard for the category, it remains unclear how their nominations will be treated by the jury or whether the inclusion of all three names was a mere clerical error.
The Africa Movie Academy Awards is scheduled to be held in Lagos, Nigeria on 9th November 2025.
Below is the full list of nominations.
Efere Ozako Award for Best Short Film
- The Missing Piece (Kenya)
- Vandals (Mozambique)
- Echoes from the Past (Nigeria/UK)
- Abu Judy (Egypt)
- Chikha – Queen (Morocco)
- MIA (Burkina Faso)
- Stigma (Tunisia)
- Lees Waxul (Senegal)
- The Last Harvest (Cape Verde)
Jubril Malafia Award for Best Animation
- Dawn (Cameroon)
- My Brother, My Brother (Egypt/France/Germany)
- The Travails of Ajadi (Nigeria)
- Nkizzi’s First Day (Uganda)
- Amara and the Spirit of Nyamagunda (Uganda)
- Monologue (Nigeria/UK)
Best Documentary
- The Journey East (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Double Minority (Nigeria)
- The Empty Grave (Tanzania/UK)
- Khartoum (Sudan/UK)
- Ancestral Visions of the Future (Lesotho/France/Germany)
Best Diaspora Short Film
- Cartes (USA)
- Superman Doesn’t Steal (USA)
- Harvest (USA)
Best Diaspora Documentary
- The Billy Preston Story (USA)
- Carnival: They Can’t Steal Our Joy (Canada)
- Missing Rio Doce (Brazil/France)
- Rediscovering Fanon (US/Algeria/Martinique)
Best Diaspora Narrative Feature
- Sistermaids (Brazil)
- Romeo N Juliet 4EVA (Jamaica)
- The Model, The Mannequin and Me (USA)
Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Lukas (Namibia)
- Lobola Man (South Africa)
- Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
Michael Anyiam Osigwe Award for Best Film by an African Living Abroad
- Ancestral Visions of the Future, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho/France/Germany)
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions, Dani Kouyaté (Burkina Faso)
- Khartoum, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad (Sudan/UK)
Achievement in Production Design
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- Last Stop (Ghana)
- Red Circle (Nigeria)
Achievement in Costume Design
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- The Lost Days (Nigeria)
- The Masked King (Nigeria)
- The Serpent’s Gift (Nigeria)
- Hunting Jessica Brok (South Africa)
Achievement in Makeup
- Spelonk (South Africa)
- Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- Amanyanabo: The Eagle King (Nigeria)
- The Masked King (Nigeria)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
Achievement in Soundtrack
- Recall (Nigeria)
- Freedom Way (Nigeria)
- Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Kites (South Africa)
- Le Pont – The Bridge (Tunisia)
Achievement in Visual Effect
- For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- Spelonk (South Africa)
- Hunting Jessica Brok (South Africa)
- Amanyanabo: The Eagle King (Nigeria)
Achievement in Sound
- Algiers (Algeria)
- Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Le Pont – The Bridge (Tunisia)
- Hunting Jessica Brok (South Africa)
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
Achievement in Cinematography
- 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Spelonk (South Africa)
- Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
Achievement in Editing
- For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Spelonk (South Africa)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- Algiers (Algeria)
Achievement in Screenplay
- Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Le Pont – The Bridge (Tunisia)
- For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Red Circle (Nigeria)
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Award for Best Nigerian Film
- Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- Recall (Nigeria)
- Freedom Way (Nigeria)
- The Serpent’s Gift (Nigeria)
- Amanyanabo: The Eagle King (Nigeria)
- 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- Red Circle (Nigeria)
- The Masked King (Nigeria)
Best Young/Promising Actor
- Alejandro Cooper, Lukas (Namibia)
- Turinayo Jotham, Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Tiwalola Adebola-Walter, Freedom Way (Nigeria)
- Kosi Ogborueche, Kill Boro (Nigeria)
- Ruby Akubueze, 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Kojo Boakye, Two of a Kind (Ghana)
- Femi Jacobs, Freedom Way (Nigeria)
- Clement Ashiteye “Clemento Suarez”, Last Stop (Ghana)
- Abdulai Saidu Kamara, Code of Honour (Sierra Leone)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Zohra Chetioui, Le Pont – The Bridge (Tunisia)
- Tina Mba, The Serpent’s Gift (Nigeria)
- Fadela Brown, Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Bukky Wright, Red Circle (Nigeria)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Keenan Arrison, The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- Debebe Eshetu, For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Adjetey Anang, Last Stop (Ghana)
- Lateef Adedimeji, Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- Ayden Croy, Old Righteous Blues (South Africa)
- Bizimana Hussain, Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Mahamadi Nana, Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- Nabil Asli, Algiers (Algeria)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, The Serpent’s Gift (Nigeria)
- Analisa Munyana, Mucoma: The Battle of the Couple (Rwanda)
- Shaffy Bello, The Masked King (Nigeria)
- Danica De La Ray Jones, Hunting Jessica Brok (South Africa)
- Getahun Hailu, For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Florence Mariserena, Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Meriem Medjkane, Algiers (Algeria)
- Osas Ighodaro, Fat Toure and Maud Guerard, 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
Best Debut Feature by a Director
- The Lost Days, Wingonia Ikpi (Nigeria)
- Small Gods, Asher Rosen (Uganda/UK)
- Algiers, Chakib Taleb-Bendiab (Algeria)
- Kill Boro, Obayuwana Courage (Nigeria)
- The Heart Is a Muscle, Imran Hamdulay (South Africa)
- Freedom Way, Afolabi Olalekan (Nigeria)
Best Director
- Niyi Akinmolayan, Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)
- Imran Hamdulay, The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- Asurf Oluseyi, 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- Asher Rosen, Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- Theodros Teshome, For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Dani Kouyaté, Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- Kwabena Gyansah, Last Stop (Ghana)
- Chakib Taleb-Bendiab, Algiers (Algeria)
Best Film
- Algiers (Algeria)
- 3 Cold Dishes (Nigeria)
- The Heart Is a Muscle (South Africa)
- Small Gods (Uganda/UK)
- For Love, For Land, For Power (Ethiopia)
- Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (Burkina Faso)
- Last Stop (Ghana)
- Lisabi: The Uprising (Nigeria)