Nominations for the 7th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) holding on March 14, 2020 are in and two of Nigeria’s best talents have come away with top nominations – producer/director Kemi Adetiba and actor Zainab Balogun. Adetiba’s 2018 film King of Boys landed six nominations (she herself is nominated for the Best Director award), while Balogun is nominated for Best Actress in a Drama (Movie/TV Series) in two different movies a la Scarlett Johansson at the 2020 Oscars. How did they get here?
Kemi Adetiba
From the radio booths of Rhythm 93.7FM in Lagos to one of the most successful movies in Nigeria history, Kemi Adetiba’s career is quite the colorful one. She went from being a voice on radio to hosting shows on Mnet including one which she co-hosted with veteran host IK Osakioduwa. When that was not cutting it, she joined Soundcity TV as a presenter before hosting the Maltina Dance All TV competition for three consecutive years.
Making yet another pivot, Adetiba enrolled at the New York Film Academy to study filmmaking and her short film Across a Bloodied Ocean was screened at the 2009 Pan African Film Festival and National Black Arts Festival. She would go on to direct several award-winning music videos but Kemi’s big break would come six years later in the form of her first feature film (a romantic comedy) – The Wedding Party. It broke box office records and took home several awards.
Two years later, in 2018, she followed up with King of Boys which has earned six nominations at the 2020 AMVCAs. The movie is nominated in major categories including Best Make-Up, Best Costume Designer (Movie or TV Series), Best SoundTrack (Movie/TV Series) won by Banana Island Ghost at the 2018 AMVCAs and Kemi Adetiba herself is nominated for Best Director, also for King of Boys. What a run!
Zainab Balogun
Perhaps as a 16-year old teen model dreamt of making it to the big screen, we may never know for sure. What she has done however is hit the silver screens of Britain, Hollywood and Nollywood rapidly working her around the many challenges in the industry. Like Adetiba, Balogun’s career has also been colorful. After gracing various magazines as a model and later Law undergraduate, she started producing her own web series called “The J-ist TV”.
After securing her law degree, Balogun soon started to appear on British TV including on BBC One’s Material Girl. She also featured in the 2012 Bollywood movie Cocktails and even reportedly made a cameo appearance in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises”.
Coming back to Nigeria she joined EbonylifeTV where she hosted a daily show “The Spot” with Lamide Akintobi and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu for four years. The shows last episode aired in 2017. Since her return, Balogun has appeared in a bunch of movies and TV series including both parts Kemi Adetiba’s box office banger The Wedding Party. She has been nominated for the Best Actress in a Drama (Movie/TV Series) award for two movies: Sylvia and God Calling (both released in 2018). What a run she has been on!
Other notable nominations at the AMVCAs include Ramsey Nouah’s Living in Bondage remake which has ten nominations while Nouah himself has 3 individual nominations for his roles in Levi, Merry Men 1 and Living in Bondage: Breaking Free. Veteran actor Sola Sobowale is also nominated alongside rapper Reminisce and actor Toni Tones for their roles in King of Boys.
We wish all the nominees the very best at the awards – they deserve all their coins for their talent, hardwork and dedication.
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by 208headlines