Uganda’s Slum Bomber and Kenya’s One Woman, One Bra have emerged as the most nominated films at the 22nd Africa Movie Academy Awards, securing 14 nominations each and setting up a broad continental contest ahead of the November 15 ceremony in Lagos.

The two East African productions lead a nomination field that also gives significant recognition to Nigerian, South African, Ghanaian, Ivorian and Cameroonian cinema. Nigeria’s To Adaego With Love, directed by Nwamaka Chikezie, follows with 11 nominations, while Daniel Etim-Effiong’s The Herd received 10.

South Africa’s The Trek and Ben Made It, alongside Côte d’Ivoire’s Colours of Exile, also earned 10 nominations each, placing them among the strongest contenders at this year’s awards. Nigeria’s Colours of Fire secured nine nominations and is also represented across major acting and technical categories.

The nominations were unveiled ahead of the 22nd edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards, one of the continent’s longest-running film award institutions. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 15 at the Lagos Marriott Hotel, bringing together actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, writers and other film professionals from across Africa and the diaspora.

The Best Film category reflects the geographical spread of this year’s nominations. Nine films from six African countries are competing for the top prize, including South Africa’s The Trek and Ben Made It, Nigeria’s To Adaego With Love and The Herd, Ghana’s The Fisherman, Côte d’Ivoire’s Colours of Exile, Uganda’s Slum Bomber, Kenya’s One Woman, One Bra and Cameroon’s Mabanda.

For Ghana, the nomination of The Fisherman in the Best Film category places the country among the major national contenders at this year’s awards. The film, written and directed by Zoey Martinson, is also represented in several other categories, including Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Debut Feature Film by a Director, Achievement in Visual Effects and Achievement in Costume Design.

Ricky Adelayitar received a Best Actor in a Leading Role nomination for his performance in The Fisherman, competing against actors including Daniel Etim-Effiong for The Herd, Wale Ojo for Light Out, Uzor Arukwe for Colours of Fire, Maurice Carpede for The Trek, Marcus Mabusela for Ben Made It, Abdoulaziz Sall for Colours of Exile and Kang Quintus for Mabanda.

Martinson’s nomination for Best Director puts her in a field that also includes Maureen Nankya for Slum Bomber, Vincho Nchogu for One Woman, One Bra, Nwamaka Chikezie for To Adaego With Love, Daniel Etim-Effiong for The Herd, Meekaaeel Adam for The Trek, Pheello Makosholo for Ben Made It, Kang Quintus for Mabanda and Azlorabe Alaoui for Colours of Exile.

The strong showing for The Fisherman comes after the Ghanaian film built international attention through festival screenings and critical recognition. Its performance at AMAA places it alongside productions from some of the continent’s largest and most established film industries while also highlighting Ghana’s continuing presence within the wider African cinema circuit.

Uganda’s Slum Bomber, meanwhile, enters the ceremony as one of two overall nomination leaders. Directed by Maureen Jolly Nankya, the film has been recognized across acting, directing and technical categories. Its 14 nominations represent one of the strongest showings by a Ugandan production at a major continental film awards ceremony in recent years.

The film received nominations in categories including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Supporting Actor, Best Debut Feature, Best Film in an African Language, Achievement in Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Production Design and Make-up.

Jackline Nafula was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Slum Bomber, while Samuel Kabugo earned recognition in the Best Supporting Actor category. Ocen Daniel also appears among the nominees for Best Young or Promising Actor.

The film’s wide spread across performance and technical categories suggests that its strong nomination total is not concentrated in one section of the awards but reflects recognition across multiple aspects of production.

Kenya’s One Woman, One Bra matched Slum Bomber with 14 nominations, underlining the growing competitiveness of East African cinema at AMAA. Directed by Vincho Nchogu, the film received recognition for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Debut Feature, Best Film in an African Language, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Costume Design and Production Design.

Sarah Karel earned a Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination for the Kenyan film, while Amos Leuka was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Norng’aruani Kipuker for Best Supporting Actress.

The dominance of Slum Bomber and One Woman, One Bra at the top of the nomination table broadens the narrative beyond Nollywood and South African cinema and demonstrates the increasingly competitive range of productions emerging from across the continent.

Nigeria nevertheless retains a major presence across the awards. To Adaego With Love leads all Nigerian films with 11 nominations and is among the nominees for Best Film, Best Director and several acting and technical awards.

The film, directed by Nwamaka Chikezie, is set against the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War and centers on a relationship that crosses regional, ethnic and social divisions. Chisom Agoawuike earned a Best Actress nomination for her performance, while veteran actor Bob-Manuel Udokwu was nominated in the supporting actor category.

Chikezie is also nominated in the Best Director category and for Best Debut Feature Film by a Director, giving the filmmaker multiple opportunities for recognition at the ceremony.

The Herd, directed by Daniel Etim-Effiong, follows closely with 10 nominations. Etim-Effiong received nominations in three major individual categories: Best Director, Best Debut Feature Film by a Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.

That combination makes him one of the most individually recognized filmmakers and performers at this year’s awards.

Linda Ejiofor also received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for The Herd, while the film was recognized in production design, visual effects, screenplay and other technical categories.

Nigeria’s Colours of Fire secured nine nominations, including acting recognition for Osas Ighodaro and Uzor Arukwe. The film is also represented in supporting performance and technical categories, adding to Nigeria’s overall strength across the nomination list.

South Africa’s presence is similarly substantial. The Trek and Ben Made It each secured 10 nominations and both compete for Best Film.

Meekaaeel Adam received a Best Director nomination for The Trek, while Maurice Carpede was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The film also appears in several technical categories, including cinematography, editing, sound and costume design.

Ben Made It, directed by Pheello Makosholo, also competes strongly across acting, directing and technical categories. Marcus Mabusela was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, while Phumzile Kubheka earned a supporting actress nomination.

Côte d’Ivoire’s Colours of Exile also secured 10 nominations and is among the Best Film contenders. The film received nominations for Best Director, leading and supporting acting, cinematography, editing, sound, screenplay and other production categories.

Cameroon’s Mabanda completes the Best Film lineup and received nominations across several major categories, including Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Kang Quintus.

The geographical spread of the nominations is consistent with AMAA’s long-standing ambition to position itself as a continental rather than national awards platform.

Since its creation, the Africa Movie Academy Awards has sought to recognize films from across Africa and the diaspora, including productions made in Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and African languages.

The 2026 nomination list continues that approach by including films from East, West, Central, North and Southern Africa, as well as international co-productions.

The Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language reflects another aspect of that strategy. Nominees include Slum Bomber from Uganda, One Woman, One Bra from Kenya, Mabanda from Cameroon, Ben Made It from South Africa and Nigerian films Iwe Ala and Efunroye (The Unicorn).

The technical categories are similarly diverse, with films from multiple countries competing in cinematography, editing, sound, visual effects, costume design, production design and make-up.

In cinematography, nominees include The Trek, Colours of Exile, One Woman, One Bra, Slum Bomber, Hanami, Cordelia and Ben Made It.

The editing category includes Colours of Exile, Slum Bomber, Ben Made It, The Trek, Suky, Evi and One Woman, One Bra.

For sound, the field includes The Trek, Suky, To Adaego With Love, Colours of Fire, Slum Bomber, Colours of Exile, Black Burn Fast and One Woman, One Bra.

Ghana’s The Fisherman is among the nominees for Achievement in Visual Effects alongside The Creek, Colours of Fire, Suky and The Herd.

The film also appears in the costume design category with One Woman, One Bra, Iwe Ala, Idia, To Adaego With Love and The Trek.

Ghana has additional representation elsewhere on the nomination list. Ashes of Accra is among the nominees for the Efere Ozako Award for Best Short Film, while Ananse and the Divine Journey, a Ghana-USA production, received recognition in the animation category.

That broader presence means Ghana’s participation is not limited to The Fisherman, although the film remains the country’s most prominent contender because of its Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor nominations.

The ceremony is also expected to feature several prominent Nigerian performers who received individual nominations.

Toyin Abraham was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Oversabi Aunty, while Faithia Balogun appears in the same category for Efunroye (The Unicorn). Osas Ighodaro was nominated for Colours of Fire and Chisom Agoawuike for To Adaego With Love.

In the supporting categories, Patience Ozokwo received a nomination for Onobiren, Mercy Aigbe for Colours of Fire and Omowunmi Dada for Evi.

Among male supporting actors, Dele Odule was nominated for Iwe Ala, Femi Branch for Colours of Fire, Bucci Franklin for The Creek and Bob-Manuel Udokwu for To Adaego With Love.

The nomination announcement also highlighted younger performers and debut filmmakers, signaling AMAA’s continued emphasis on emerging talent alongside established names.

Daniel Etim-Effiong, Maureen Jolly Nankya, Vincho Nchogu, Meekaaeel Adam, Zoey Martinson, Angela Zivo Gapa, Pheello Makosholo, Nwamaka Chikezie, Mohamed Ahmed and Chinazaekpere Chukwu are among the nominees for Best Debut Feature Film by a Director.

That category is particularly notable because several of its nominees also appear in Best Director and Best Film, suggesting that new filmmakers are competing directly with more established industry figures at the highest levels of the awards.

Speaking during the nomination unveiling, AMAA leadership described the selected films as reflecting the diversity of African storytelling and the expanding technical and creative standards of filmmaking across the continent.

Chief Operating Officer Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe said the platform had spent more than two decades recognizing the continent’s shared experiences, cultures and creative achievements.

The awards were founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, who built AMAA into one of Africa’s most visible film recognition platforms before her death in 2023.

The organization has continued operating under the Africa Film Academy and remains one of the major annual meeting points for filmmakers from multiple national industries.

The 22nd edition arrives at a time when African film production is increasingly shaped by global streaming platforms, international festival circuits, cross-border co-productions and changing distribution models.

While Nollywood remains Africa’s largest film industry by volume, productions from countries including Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and South Africa have gained greater international visibility through festivals and digital distribution.

This year’s nomination totals illustrate that shift.

The two most nominated films are not Nigerian or South African but Ugandan and Kenyan productions, while the Best Film lineup includes nine movies from six countries.

That does not diminish Nigeria’s importance within AMAA, especially with the ceremony taking place in Lagos and multiple Nigerian productions competing across major categories. Instead, it reflects a wider field in which films from smaller national industries are increasingly challenging for continental recognition.

For Ghana, attention will focus heavily on The Fisherman and whether it can convert its multiple nominations into awards on November 15.

The film’s nominations in Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor place it directly among the ceremony’s most closely watched productions, while its technical recognition adds another layer to its chances.

The Best Film category itself is likely to be one of the most competitive of the night because several nominees also dominate the overall nomination table.

Slum Bomber, One Woman, One Bra, To Adaego With Love, The Herd, The Trek, Ben Made It and Colours of Exile all enter the category with extensive nominations elsewhere.

That broad recognition means the eventual Best Film winner will emerge from a field already strongly endorsed across acting, directing, screenplay and technical categories.

The nomination numbers, however, do not determine the winners. Each category will be decided through AMAA’s judging process, and a film leading the nominations can still leave the ceremony with fewer awards than a lower-nominated competitor.

The November 15 event will therefore provide the first definitive measure of how the 2026 nomination strength translates into actual wins.

For now, Slum Bomber and One Woman, One Bra enter the ceremony with the largest number of opportunities at 14 nominations each, followed by To Adaego With Love with 11 and a group of strong 10-nomination contenders.

Ghana’s The Fisherman has meanwhile secured a place in the most prestigious category of the night and gives the country a significant presence in the continental race.

With films from Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon competing across the major categories, the 22nd Africa Movie Academy Awards is shaping up as a broad contest for continental film recognition rather than a competition dominated by a single national industry.

The final results will be announced when the African film community gathers at the Lagos Marriott Hotel on November 15, where the nomination leaders will attempt to convert their strong showing into trophies and one of nine films will leave with AMAA’s Best Film award.