TIPTOPSTARS

Kanjo in red bold tie) flanked by awardwinning actors

The USA-based venerated entertainment journalist was not on hand to receive his trophy. However, Kanjo, speaking from the USA, expressed his sincere gratitude for the reward. “I’m more than elated for the honour and I praise God ten folds for this,” he said. Also reacting to the award, the journalist said, humbly: “This recognition is not mine alone - it belongs to all the young Cameroonians who have been daring in a sector as complex as the film industry. They are at the origin of the stories I write, so I owe them quite much.”

Dedicating the award to God Almighty and all film stars, Kanjo praised Cam Movies for the CMMA initiative. “I understand the salient role recognitions such as the CMMA play in the growth of a young film industry. Only an excited performer would lie on their laurels – rather, I know reasonable people work harder each time they are told that they do their job well. Certainly, that’s what is going to happen to me and other laureates of the first CMMA awards,” the journalist explained.

Known for his passion in reporting about film stars, Kanjo has created a handsome record in publishing countless Cameroonian movies-related articles with an exceptionally rich repertoire built up in 2012 on TIPTOPSTARS. Before now, he had written widely on the same subject via Among Youths (a youth magazine and one of the best-selling and most-read publications in the English language in Cameroon at the time) where he was Editor-in-Chief for five years. Kanjo had also reported extensively on the film industry in The Herald newspaper (off stands), The Guardian Post and The Standard Tribune (created and ran The Set, a column on Cameroonian movies and film stars) some of the frontline publications in the country.

Kanjo flanked by actresses Mairo and Pridine

His commitment in film reporting got Ernest Kanjo into several projects including the transformation of entertainment reporters into film critics, sponsored by the German Cultural Centre, Goethe-Institute. Kanjo also became a founding member of the African Arts Journalists Network AAJN, created in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2010.

Meantime, the CMMA award is the 7^th Kanjo is receiving so far. In 2008, he got the Cameroon Film Industry (CFI) Honorary Award for his efforts in promoting the industry. In 2009, he won the ACE/MINCULT best cinema reporting journalist award. That same year, Kanjo got the Our Home Pro. (OHP) Achievement Award. In 2010, he was honoured with a Collywood Excellence award for his efforts in the promotion of culture. Still in 2010, he got a second recognition from OHP. The sixth award came from the Cameroon Actors Guild (CAMAG) in May 2011 for his brilliant image-building of works for Cameroonian actors.