The 12th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards delivered a night packed with emotional speeches, career-defining wins, and major moments for African film and television. From sweeping victories to breakout achievements, AMVCA 2026 celebrated the projects and talents that shaped conversations across the industry this past year, and a few names clearly owned the night.
Leading the pack was My Father’s Shadow, which emerged as the biggest winner of the evening with five awards, including Best Movie, Best Director, Best Writing in a Movie, Best Score/Music, and Best Sound/Sound Design. The film’s strong showing confirmed its place as one of the most critically celebrated projects of the year.
To Kill a Monkey followed closely behind with major wins in Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Bucci Franklin, while Colours of Fire secured three huge wins, including Best Lead Actor for Uzor Arukwe, alongside Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.
One of the defining moments of the night belonged to Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, who walked away with two acting awards, Best Lead Actress for The Serpent’s Gift and Best Supporting Actress for The Herd. Her double win quickly became one of the ceremony’s biggest highlights.
Uche Montana also had a standout moment after taking home the Trailblazer Award, while veteran actors Sola Sobowale and Kanayo O. Kanayo were honoured with the Industry Merit Award for their lasting impact on African cinema.
In television and digital categories, Nigerian Idol won Best Unscripted M-Net Original, The Low Priest claimed Best Scripted M-Net Original, while Leave To Live by Emmanuel Kanaga and Sophia Chisom won Best Digital Content Creator.
The AMVCAs also continued spotlighting storytelling from across the continent, with winning projects emerging from West, East, North, Central, and Southern Africa in the Indigenous Language Film categories.
Here are some of the night’s major winners:
- Best Movie – My Father’s Shadow
- Best Director – Akinola Davies Jr (My Father’s Shadow)
- Best Lead Actress – Linda Ejiofor (The Serpent’s Gift)
- Best Lead Actor – Uzor Arukwe (Colours of Fire)
- Best Supporting Actress – Linda Ejiofor (The Herd)
- Best Supporting Actor – Bucci Franklin (To Kill a Monkey)
- Best Cinematography – To Kill a Monkey
- Best Editing – To Kill a Monkey
- Best Scripted Series – Inimba
- Best Digital Content Creator – Leave To Live
- Trailblazer Award – Uche Montana
From established screen legends to rising stars, AMVCA 2026 was a reminder of the scale, ambition, and global potential of African storytelling. And if the wins, speeches, and audience reactions proved anything, it’s that Nollywood, and African cinema at large, is entering another major era.
