As count down begins for the 2011 edition of the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), the organisers recently flew African movie industry stakeholders on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, for the AMAA 2011 nominee’s party, held at the expansive hall of the Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi.

The trip to Nairobi however proved to be a brilliant decision as the event was graced by notable stars such as Jim Iyke, Rita Dominic, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Mike Ezuruonye, Joke Silva, Majid Michael, Jackie Appiah, Ramsey Nouah, Ini Edo, Chinedu Ikedieze, Kunle Afolayan, and many others.

Speaking on her reason for taking the party to Nairobi, the CEO of AMAA Peace Anyiam-Osigwe said ‘“East Africa has made very strong showing and presence in AMAA since we started particularly in the last three editions. Apart from submitting films for the awards, film makers and allied practitioners from these countries have come to Nigeria to attend the awards. More so the 2011 AMAA is reloaded and repackaged so we wanted to do things differently.”

Guests from other countries did not regret taking the trip to Nairobi as the party was all fun and attendees were treated to good music from P-Square, J Martins, and several other Kenyan artistes like P-Unit and Madtraax.

As against the usual one-day Gala Nite usually aired live from Yenogoa to both terrestrial and satellite network stations worldwide, the 7th edition of AMAA billed to open on Monday, March 21 through 26, is being planned as a week long celebration of African films, the stars and the brains behind the many success stories recorded in the continent’s motion picture industry in the past years. The celebration will climax with the award presentation proper, which will feature the crème de la crème of Nollywood as well as their counterparts from different part of the world.

Judging from the nominations event, it is predicted that the red carpet is going to be even more glamourous and spectacular than in years past.