Nigerian actress Bukunmi Oluwashina uplifted the spirits of Nollywood filmmaker and star actress Funke Akindele on social media after her unexpected loss at the 2024 awards ceremony.
The 2024 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, held at the prestigious Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos on Saturday, shimmered with the glow of celebration and acknowledgment, honoring remarkable accomplishments in African film and television.
However, for Funke Akindele’s ‘A Tribe of Judah’, the evening unfolded as a series of near-misses, with her and the production team falling short in all its nominated categories.
Despite securing nominations across a range of prestigious categories—such as Best Makeup, Best Writing in a Movie, Best Lead Actress, Best Movie, and Best Supporting Actor—’A Tribe of Judah’ ultimately left the ceremony without any gleaming trophies to claim victory.
Bukunmi Oluwashina, despite being overlooked at the AMVCA despite her exceptional performance in Femi Adebayo’s ‘Jagun Jagun’, which secured wins that night, took to her Instagram story to publicly acclaim Funke Akindele as her ‘Best Actress’ after the latter’s loss in the category.
In a heartwarming response to Bukunmi’s touching post, Funke Akindele expressed her gratitude with a series of love emojis.
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Funke Akindele’s powerful performance in ‘A Tribe called Judah’ was eclipsed by Kehinde Bankole’s captivating role in Adire, which earned her the Best Lead Actress award.
Timini Egbuson’s supporting role in the movie was also edged out by Demola Adedoyin’s outstanding performance in Breath of Life.
The movie itself, A Tribe of Judah, which made history by becoming the first Nollywood film to gross N1bn (One Billion Naira) within 21 days of its release, lost to Breath of Life in the Best Movie category.
