The leading ladies of 2026. This collage highlights the Best Lead Actress nominees, including Scarlet Gomez (Behind The Scenes) and Genoveva Umeh (The Herd), representing the pinnacle of Nollywood’s box office and critical success this year. The Best Lead Actress race at this year’s AMVCA is, to put it simply, a collision of generations.

The 12th edition, scheduled for 9 May 2026 in Lagos with Joke Silva serving as head judge, has assembled a category that reaches back decades and stretches forward to the freshest faces in Nollywood. The field is staggering: a celebrated theatre director making a revelation of a screen debut, a rising star proving her mettle beyond digital screens, a veteran whose command of power remains unmatched, and a screen icon who has defined Nigerian storytelling for over thirty years. What distinguishes this field is not simply talent, but the sheer variety of the human experience on display.

We see a woman navigating a marriage curse rooted in generational secrets; a First Lady whose obsession with control is her ultimate undoing; a survivor piecing together a life she once walked away from; and a widow fighting to exist in a legacy determined to erase her. Eight women. See the nominees below: Linda Ejiofor — The Serpent’s Gift “The Serpent’s Gift” is the film that gave audiences Linda Ejiofor in a full leading role, and it is safe to say she arrived.

She plays the central figure of a story rooted in cultural identity and the weight of inherited secrets, carrying the film with a presence that is both grounded and commanding. The film earned six AMVCA nominations including Best Movie and Best Cinematography, and also earned Ejiofor a Best Supporting Actress nomination at this year’s ceremony for her performance in “The Herd,” making her one of the double nominees in the acting categories. Ejiofor won Best Supporting Actress at the 2015 AMVCA for “The Meeting,” a win that announced her as one to watch.

More than a decade later, she returns not in a supporting role but as the face of one of the year’s most talked-about films. Bimbo Akintola — To Kill A Monkey In “To Kill A Monkey,” Kemi Adetiba‘s Netflix hit that held the number one spot upon release, Bimbo Akintola plays Inspector Mo — a law enforcement agent haunted by her own losses, closing in on a cybercrime syndicate with the kind of focused intensity that makes every scene she occupies feel higher-stakes. Inspector Mo is not the emotional centre of the film, but she is its moral spine, and Akintola plays her with a combination of sharpness and restraint that makes the character unforgettable.

Akintola has been a fixture of Nollywood for over three decades, and the AMVCA has recognised her across different genres. Her previous nominations include Best Actress in a Drama for “93 Days“ (2017) and Best Actress in a Comedy for “Wives on Strike“ (2017). This nomination feels like the latest chapter in a career that refuses to plateau.

For a woman whose work helped define an entire generation of Nigerian storytelling, being here again in 2026 is a reminder of just how much she still has to give. Close-up of veteran actress Bimbo Akintola looking intense and focused while holding a phone to her ear in a scene from the Kemi Adetiba series To Kill A Monkey. Photo Credit: Bimbo Akintola/Instagram Ifeoma Fafunwa — The Lost Days The most unexpected name on this list is also one of the most compelling.

Ifeoma Fafunwa is not primarily known as an actress. She is a celebrated playwright, director, and activist, the creative mind behind HEAR WORD!, one of the most important theatre productions in Nigeria’s recent history. “The Lost Days” is her screen acting debut, and the jury clearly felt her performance was worth placing alongside some of the most experienced women in Nollywood.

She plays Chisom, a successful businesswoman in remission from lymphoma who leaves her city life behind and travels to Abeokuta to reconnect with the man she once loved and the son she left behind. Hidden truths from her past make the journey far more complicated than she anticipated. Director Wingonia Ikpi has spoken publicly about knowing from the moment they sat with Fafunwa that the role was hers, describing her as having the specific energy and presence the character required.

This is her first AMVCA nomination, and what an entry point. Ariyiike Owolagba — Something About The Briggs “Something About The Briggs,” directed by Bukola Ogunsola, is a film about love, marriage, and the generational wounds that shape both. Ariyike Owolagba plays Sophie Briggs, a successful lawyer who turns down a marriage proposal because she is convinced that a curse has destroyed every relationship in her family before hers.

Her partner, Chuks Obi, refuses to accept the rejection and begins to unravel the family’s buried past — forcing Sophie to confront the fears and secrets she has spent years running from. This is Owolagba’s cinema debut and her first AMVCA nomination. Earning a