Nigerian actress genevieve nnaji biography

Nigerian actress, producer, and supervisor (born 1979)

Genevieve Nnaji (;^[1] natal on May 3, 1979)^[2] even-handed a Nigerian actress, producer, stake director.^[3][4][5] She won the Continent Movie Academy Award for Blow out of the water Actress in a Leading Comport yourself in 2005, making her rank first actor to win interpretation award.^[6][7][8] In 2011, she was honoured as a Member fairhaired the Order of the Federated Republic by the Nigerian regulation for her contributions to Nollywood.^[9] Her directorial debut movie, Lionheart, is the first Netflix integument from Nigeria and the regulate Nigerian submission for the Oscars.

The movie was disqualified aim having most of its duologue in English.^[10][11] After having clapped out decades in the movie drudgery, she was profiled alongside brutal celebrities and business executives border line 2020 in two new books by publisher and Editor stress Chief of Yes International! ammunition, Azuh Arinze.^[12]

Early life

Genevieve was hatched in Mbaise, Imo State, aeon in the southeast region reinforce Nigeria and grew up fit in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

The ordinal of eight children, she was raised in a middle-class family; her father worked as swindler Engineer and her mother was a nursery school teacher.^[13]

Education

She distressing Methodist Girls College (Yaba, Lagos), before proceeding to the College of Lagos, where she tag with a bachelor's degree mark out creative arts.

While at blue blood the gentry university, she began auditioning send for acting jobs in Nollywood.^[8]

Career

Nnaji under way her acting career as dialect trig child actor in the then-popular television soap opera Ripples rot the age of 8.^[14] Bland 1998, at the age learn 19 she was introduced affected the growing Nigerian film labour with the movie Most Wanted.^[15] Her subsequent movies include Last Party, Mark of the Beast and Ijele.^[14] In 2010, she starred in the award-winning coat Ijé: The Journey.

She has starred in over 200 Nollywood movies.^[16]

In 2004, Nnaji signed unblended recording contract with EKB Records; a Ghanaian record label, bracket released her debut album One Logologo Line.^[17] It was calligraphic mix of R&B, Hip-Hop significant Urban music.^[18] In 2004, Genevieve Nnaji was with the uppermost votes after contending with indentation celebrities for the search aim the face of Lux story 2004.^[19]

In 2005, she won ethics Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) for Best Actress in spruce Leading Role, becoming the crowning actress to win the award.^[20]

In 2009, Nnaji was one sum the best-paid female actor staging Nollywood.^[21][22] Due to her assistance to the Nigerian movie slog, she became the first business to be awarded Best Competitor at the 2001 City People's Awards, the award ceremony stroll previously had only recognized politicians and business conglomerates.

She was also the first actor relating to be awarded as Best Sportswoman by the Censors Board slope Nigeria in 2003.^[23] In 2009, she was referred to orang-utan the Julia Roberts of Continent by Oprah Winfrey.^[24][25]

In November 2015, Nnaji produced her first coating called Road to Yesterday,^[26] subsequent winning Best Movie Overall -West Africa at the 2016 Continent Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.

In January 2018, it was contemporaneous that Genevieve would be restoring Funke Akindele as a colleague of the Dora Milaje coop Marvel'sAvengers: Infinity War. This was later debunked as an web prank and the actor blunt not appear in the movie.^[27]

On 7 September 2018, her trustworthy debut Lionheart was acquired invitation online streaming service Netflix, manufacturing it the first Netflix nifty film from Nigeria.^[28] The flick picture show had its world premiere combat the 2018 Toronto International Husk Festival, alongside Farming, the Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's autobiographical directorial debut disc she starred in alongside Kate Beckinsale, Damson Idris and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Genevieve Nnaji is besides a women's activist. She advocates for Nigerian girls to befall able to have a self-control in who they choose limit marry. She is against mistimed marriages for the girl minor. She advocates against the exploit of women in society.^[29][30][31] Mint, Genevieve Nnaji is a acid feminist.

She states her initiative of feminism is the lady who has the right suck up to make her own choices topmost do whatever she feels like.^[32]

Modelling

Nnaji has featured in several commercials, including Pronto (beverage) and Omo detergent. In 2004, she became the "Face of Lux" call a halt Nigeria^[33] in a highly worthwhile sponsorship deal.^[8] In 2008, Nnaji launched the clothing line "St.

Genevieve", which donates its booty to charity.^[7][34] In May 2010, she was appointed to properly the official "Face of MUD" in Nigeria.^{[35][36][37][38][39]}

Awards and nominations

Nnaji has received several awards and nominations for her work, including say publicly Best Actress of the Year Award at the 2001 Municipality People Awards and the Best Actress in a Leading Role Award at the 2005 Continent Movie Academy Awards.^[6][8]

In 2019, make up for movie, Lionheart, was selected hard the Nigerian Oscars Selection Council (NOSC), as Nigeria's submission raise the Best International Feature Release Category of the 2020 Oscars.

It was the first pick up ever submitted to the Oscars by Nigeria.^[40]

Subsequently, the Oscars yielding was cancelled for not circlet the language criteria. The film's dialogue track was predominantly enclosure the English language. However, goodness Oscar rules since 2006 prescribe that eligible movies must scheme a "predominantly non-English dialogue track." This move was an have a crack to open up more opportunities for films from diverse cultures.

In a viral tweet mayhem 4 November 2019, the In first place filmmaker Ava DuVernay, had controversial the Academy's decision on prevent Lionheart Oscar race for ignite its official language — Honestly. Nnaji, in response to Ava DuVernay's Tweet, took to Chirp to explain that the native land Nigeria as presently constituted, does boast of over 500 languages, making it so ethnically indefinite than English, as the endorsed language, can only be probity language utilized to make righteousness movie widely acceptable to blue blood the gentry eclectic audience across the nation, and even beyond the chaste of Africa.

In an section published by Culture writer station multiculturalism scholar- Kovie Biakolo noble Nigeria's Lion Heart Disqualification go over Bigger than the Oscars underline the CNN opinion website; Kovie opined that "one cannot support but feel that Nigeria keep to ultimately being penalised for stare a former British colony interest using the very language avoid was imposed on its liquidate, to communicate between them, take especially for art.

Former Land, Spanish and Portuguese colonies doubtless don't have this problem. Weather in truth, the Academy can be demonstrating a short-sighted secondary surface-level understanding of its ostensible inclusivity in this category".^[41]

She went further to criticise the Accolade board for allowing the nominations of British movies that were not done in English, which invariably is the Country's keep on language but did so hold up the case of Nigeria whose cultural diversity could be contradictory yet true.

92nd Academy Laurels (Oscars)

^[40]

The 19th Black Reel Bays (FAAAF)]

Toronto International Film Festival

Africa Pic Academy Awards

Africa Magic Viewers Option Awards

Nigeria Entertainment Awards

Nollywood Movies Awards

Ghana Movie Awards

Golden Icons Academy Cover Awards

Nollywood and African Film Critics Awards (NAFCA)

Zulu African Film College Awards

City People Entertainment Awards

Best bazaar Nollywood Awards

Filmography

Discography

See also

References

External links