After a seven-year lull, Kisima Awards has sprung back, this time with a continental outlook and more offerings. This week, the outfit unveiled the Pan African Music and Film Awards, looking to honour music artists and filmmakers across Africa.

It is an ambitious move that will be keenly watched by players on the continent’s entertainment scene. The stage is set for the inaugural gala, which will be held at Nairobi’s Carnivore Grounds on Sunday, December 13.

On venturing into an awards landscape that’s soaked, the organisers say that the aim is to create a convergence zone of music and film ‘‘to tap into the vibrant art, culture and music talent in Africa.’’

Synchronisation of music and film is a new frontier in Africa, and Pan Africa Music and Film Awards hopes this will lend an edge to the new awards. For the past six months, organisers have been working to develop online portals for public nominations for the candidates. The operations culminated in last Tuesday’s announcement of the start of nominations, which will go on until November 27, when the nominees will be unveiled.

Fred Simiyu, the chairman of advertising agency IQ Marketing, who acquired the franchise, is the programme lead, and is working with a high-powered team of brand strategists, IT and financial experts and event organisers.

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Pan Africa Kisima Music and Film Awards is partnering with the Nation Media Group for visibility and Music in Africa (communication).

Music editor and journalist Lucy Ilado will be the chief judge, tasked with leading the selection process of the nominees and eventual winners of the awards.

Filmmaker Cathy Gitahi, who is consulting for the programme, says 18 categories (nine each in music and film) will be recognised. These include Best African Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Africa’s Best Feature Film and Best Director.

The host country will have additional entries besides the main categories where local artists will compete for various accolades.

Organisers say the annual event will be hosted on a rotational basis by various cities in Africa and, so far, several embassies and missions have expressed an interest to host next year’s event.

Founded in 1994 by Pete Odera and Tedd Josiah, Kisima Awards sought to recognise musical talent in Kenya. The programme would run until 1997 before folding. The awards returned in 2003, with more government and corporate sponsorship and entry of regional artists.

The awards were marred with controversy with claims of conflict of interest, skewed nomination and voting processes and undue advantage of Kenyan artists over other regional acts.

Already, there are several continental music awards such as All Africa Music Awards and MTV Africa Music Awards, which celebrates music of African origin and popular contemporary music in Africa respectively.