By Rita Okoye
For perfectly executing her role in Adire, Kehinde Bankole emerged the Best Lead Actress at the just concluded 2024 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA). Aiming higher, Bankole shares with Saturday Sun her dreams of bagging an international award soonest.
She said: “I have been praying for an Oscar nomination. Every actor would want to actually get international exposure opportunities. I know African actors are obviously really working hard. It is a lot of hard work to get up there. So, if we get more recognition internationally, why not. We are not strong enough for that now though, but we are getting there. It’s not a bad idea to be more exposed internationally.”
Expressing her gratitude and excitement over the recent AMVCA, Bankole noted that team work earned her such huge honour.
“I’m grateful because it was not open to public votes. This means, some people just sat and thought that I should have it. I just feel grateful to them and I feel it means that it’s a responsibility that has been passed onto me. I feel good that I got it, so I have to keep doing the good work. I also extended my gratitude to some colleagues that were on same project because there’s no one successful actress. It is always teamwork. It’s my turn today to carry the flag for the rest of the people. If not for their performance, especially supporting, we wouldn’t go this far – the likes of Yvonne Jegede, the producer, the writer, everyone that participated in the project. There’s a lot that goes into making a film. So, obviously you have to appreciate the fact that you’re the one that is honoured to come forward and receive the award for everyone’s efforts,” she said.