AMAA 2026 Nominations: The Films Leading Africa’s Awards Race

Uganda and Kenya lead the nomination count at the 2026 Africa Movie Academy Awards, while To Adaego With Love heads Nigeria’s contenders. Slum Bomber and One Woman, One Bra each received 14 nominations, followed by the Nigerian historical romance with 11.

The nominees were announced on 17 October, ahead of the ceremony scheduled for 15 November 2026 at the Lagos Marriott Hotel. These are nominations; the awards have yet to be decided.

The leading films show how widely the competition reaches:

The totals are reported in BellaNaija’s published nominations list.

For readers drawn to stories, To Adaego With Love offers a particularly clear starting point. Nwamaka Chikezie’s film is set in 1975 and follows a Northern Nigerian soldier and an Igbo schoolteacher whose relationship encounters the divisions left by the Civil War. Family expectations and the effort to rebuild trust give the romance its wider stakes.

Daniel Etim-Effiong also has several reasons to watch the ceremony closely. Alongside The Herd’s ten nominations, his work earned recognition in the leading actor, director and debut feature categories.

The Best Film category extends beyond the highest nomination totals. Ghana’s The Fisherman and Cameroon’s Mabanda also compete, alongside seven other films. Their inclusion makes the category a useful discovery list for readers whose viewing has concentrated mainly on Nigerian releases.

Nomination counts need context. A film recognised across acting, sound, editing and other categories has several chances to win, but its total does not settle the Best Film contest. The individual categories can be more helpful when choosing what to explore: performance nominations highlight actors, while craft categories draw attention to work audiences may overlook.

For Flicklevel readers, the useful takeaway is a broader African watchlist. Start with the films whose stories interest you, then check their individual distributors for legitimate viewing options. An awards nomination alone does not establish where a film is currently streaming.

Trusted sources: NTA’s AMAA report · BellaNaija’s full nominations list