Nigerian-based filmmaker Cameroonian Edgard Leroy has died in a car crash barely a month after winning his first Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA).
According to his partner and friend, David Akande, Leroy was involved in the auto crash that occurred on Saturday, June 11, 2022, at the Shagamu Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
He wrote on Instagram: “Good night Edgard Leroy. My brother, friend and partner. I love you. On the 11th day of June 2022, a ghastly motor accident on Lagos Ibadan Expressway, precisely at Shagamu, cut short the life of one of Africa’s fast-rising filmmakers, Cameroonian Born Edgard Le Roy Nouke Ngedemon.
“Edagard Leroy who won an Award at the just concluded African Magic Viewers Choice Awards ( AMVCA) in the Best Indigenous Movie ( Yoruba) Category, was on his way for a movie shoot in Ibadan, Oyo State, southwest Nigeria from his base in Lagos when the sad incident happened.
“Born on the 13th of July 1995, this amazing Director, editor and motion graphics artist was the first from his country to win the highly respected AMVCA award. And just a few weeks shy of his 27th birthday… this is the sad story of a life cut at its prime.
“Safe journey, Director Edgard. Creative Nigerian and Cameroonian film industries will miss you. The family is yet to announce funeral arrangements. May his soul Rest In Peace.”
Edgard was the first Cameroonian and filmmaker to win the AMVCA for his first feature film in a totally foreign language.