The 12th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards officially began on Friday with its Cultural Day celebration, setting the stage for the main ceremony scheduled for Saturday.
The event, held at the Balmoral Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, saw guests turn up in striking traditional attire that highlighted African culture, heritage, and fashion diversity.
Several Nollywood stars and celebrities graced the occasion, including Omowunmi Dada, Nnenna Mbonu, Uche Jombo, Scarlet Gomez, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Jason Jae, Imisioluwa Ayanwale, Iyo Prosper, and Ashiogwu Precious, all dressed in vibrant cultural outfits.
This year’s Cultural Day was themed Honouring Craft, Celebrating Culture, focusing on African storytelling, creativity, and the role of fashion and entertainment in preserving heritage.
Ahead of the award night, organisers had already released the list of nominees for the 12th edition, with excitement building around the competition.
Veteran actress Joke Silva has been named Head Judge for this year’s awards, taking over from filmmaker Femi Odugbemi.
The 2026 AMVCA features 32 categories in total, including 18 jury-decided awards, 11 viewer-voted categories, and three special recognition honours.
Two new categories were also introduced this year: Best Indigenous Language Film (North Africa) and Best Indigenous Language Film (Central Africa), aimed at broadening the award’s continental representation.
Leading the nominations this year are titles such as Gingerrr, The Herd, My Father’s Shadow, 3 Cold Dishes, and The Serpent’s Gift, all of which earned multiple nods in key categories.
