The 6th edition of the annual Rwanda Movie Awards went down on Friday night at the Kigali Convention Center. The red carpet event drew a full house of local film enthusiasts, local celebrities and some big names on the continental movie scene.

In all, eighteen awards were handed out to winners in different categories. Each winner received a certificate and an ornamental plague.

The awards were initially scheduled to take place on June 24th, before the date was moved to July 7th.

One of the night’s highlights was the large turnout of guests, who completely filled out the venue. The other was the presence of popular Nollywood movie producer and director Andy Boyo, and the even more popular Ghanaian actress Nadia Buari, better known to her fans by her nickname of Beyonce.

Although Buari has since ditched acting, her red carpet moment was one of the climactic episodes of the night. The cheers from excited fans were deafening and almost brought down the roof. For some while, she stood still and speechless as she received a rousing welcome.

Later, when she took to the stage, she couldn’t help but acknowledge the love from fans:

"The film industry in Africa is very challenging, but it is on occasions like these that remind us that we can work together to surmount them. So thank you Rwanda Movie Awards for this recognition and I’m so honored again to be here,”

"I love you guys and I love Rwanda. I wish I could stay longer. Thank you,” she said, to even more deafening applause.

The event was however marred by sound glitches that made it difficult for the audience to follow what the MCs were saying.

Beauty For Ashes, the band that was supposed to entertain guests was a no show, and organizers did not even bother with an explanation, let alone apology. In their place, guests had to make do with a handful of karaoke-like acts on stage.

Few people bothered to follow the stipulated dress code of black and white. Even the few that did were outnumbered by the red T-shirts bearing inscriptions of the Rwanda Film and Television School.

The winners:Best movie – Ca Inkoni IzambaBest Short Movie – She Wasn’t MeBest Documentary – Miracle and the FamilyBest TV Serie – SeburikokoBest Film Director – Fleury Ndayirukiye Best Actor – Rongin IrungaBest Actress – Saphina KirengaBest Script/Story – SamanthaBest Director of Photography – Norbert RurangwaBest Editor – Amadoullah HabimanaBest Graphics/Lighting – Jean Luc NsengiyumvaBest Sound – Martin SodaBest Supporting Actor – Damour SelemaniBest Supporting Actress – Antoinette UwamahoroBest People Choice Actor – Gratien NiyitegekaBest People Choice Actress – Assia MutoniBest Actor in TV Series – Gratien NiyitegekaBest Actress in TV Series – Antoinette Uwamahoro.

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