Hours after the movie ‘Beasts of No Nation’ premiered in Ghana, lead actor Abraham Attah has been nominated for an award at the 21st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards.

Attah was nominated in the ‘Young Actor/Actress’ category, and will compete against RJ Cyler, Shameik Moore, Milo Parker and Jacob Tremblay.

The Critics’ Choice Awards is an awards show presented annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement.

Attah played the lead role of Agu, who when civil war tears his family apart, is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters and transformed into a child soldier.

He won Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at Venice Film Festival 2015. It is his third nomination in recent weeks: ‘Best Male Lead’ at the Spirit Awards 2015 and ‘Outstanding Actor In a Motion Picture’ at the 47th annual National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) Image Awards.

Winner of the Critics’ Choice Award will be announced at a ceremony on January 17, 2016.

Idris Elba played the commander of the mercenary unit.

The movie is a drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.

Based on the 2005 novel of the same title by Uzodinma Iweala, it was partly shot in Ghana and also stars David Dontoh, Fred Amugi and Grace Omaboe.

Directed by Emmy Award-winning Cary Fukunaga, it is the first fictional feature produced and distributed by Streaming Service Netflix.

Before the premiere in Ghana, it premiered on Netflix and in selected Theaters in The United States of America on October 16. It was screened at number of prestigious film festivals including Venice, BFI London and Toronto International Film Festival.