‘Beasts of No Nation’ grabs 15 Ghana Movie Award nominations, upsetting local players

Cary Joji Fukunaga’s  African war  drama, Beasts of No Nation continues to receive rave reviews, awards and nominations but garnering 15 nominations at the just announced 2015 Ghana Movie Awards is perhaps the most controversial fete yet.

Based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, ‘Beasts of No Nation’ was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and tells the story about a young boy who survives as his country goes through a horrific war.

The film was shot in Ghana and stars Idris Elba, Ama K. Abebrese, Abraham Attah, Grace Nortey, David Dontoh, and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe. But local movie players have argued that the fact that the movie was shot in Ghana does not make it a Ghanaian movie enough to sweep 14 Ghana Movie Awards nominations.

The agitated industry players were seen visibly arguing about the merits  of ‘Beasts of No Nation’ for the Ghana Movie Awards in the lobby of the Silverbird Cinemas, where the announcements were made on Friday, December 18.

Fred Nuamah, the founder and CEO of the Ghana Movie Awards also argued that once a movie is ‘produced by a Ghanaian’ then it qualifies for the awards. He cited Tony Tagoe and Danny Damah as the producers of the movie, thus the reason why Beasts Of No Nation qualified for the award. The two were therefore nominated for the Best Picture nod. The film’s IMDb page lists Daniel Damah as a line producer for Ghana, and Tony Tagoe as co-producer.

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Beasts Of No Nation’s 15 Ghana Movie Awards nominations include Best Picture, Discovery Of The Year (Abraham Attah), Best Actor In A leading Role (Abraham Attah), Best Make-up and Hairstyle ( Chris Burgoyne and Rita Parklo), Best Sound Mixing (Geoffrey Patterson), Best Wardrobe and Costume ( Jenny Eagan/ Kayla Afriyie Frimpong), Best Editing ( Mikkel E.G Nielsen), Music -Original Score ( Dan Romer), Best Directing (Cary Joji Fukunaga)Best Production design (Tony Tomety and Miles Kristian), Best Visual Effects (Kevin Bitters), Best Cinematography ( Cary Joji Fukunaga), Actor In A Supporting Role (Idris Elba), Actor In A Supporting Role (Emmanuel Affadzi), and Best Screenplay ( Uzodinma Iweala, Cary Joji Fukunaga).