BON Awards 2026: Love and New Notes, The Herd, Colours of Fire lead nominations

Love and New Notes has emerged as the biggest contender at the 2026 Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, securing nine nominations, while The Herd follows closely with eight.

The nominations list, released by the organisers ahead of this year’s ceremony in Enugu, also features several other productions competing across acting, directing, technical and major film categories.

Four films, The Creek, Aba Blues, Colours of Fire and Efunroye: The Unicorn, secured seven nominations each, while Asurf Oluseyi’s 3 Cold Dishes received six.

Behind the Scenes and Agesinkole (King of Thieves) 2 earned five nominations apiece.

The nominations place several of Nollywood’s established actors and emerging talents in contention for this year’s awards, with competition particularly strong in the leading acting categories.

In the Best Actor category, Bucci Franklin earned a nomination for his performance in The Creek, alongside Kanayo O. Kanayo for Grandpa Must Obey, Jide Kene Achufusi for Aba Blues, Timini Egbuson for Love and New Notes, Uzor Arukwe for Colours of Fire and Wale Ojo for 3 Cold Dishes.

The Best Actress category features Scarlet Gomez for Behind the Scenes, Osas Ighodaro for Colours of Fire and 3 Cold Dishes, Mercy Aigbe for Everything Is New Again, Sharon Ooja for Ordinary People and Nse Ikpe-Etim for Devil Is a Liar.

Ighodaro’s double nomination makes her a notable contender in the category.

The supporting acting categories also feature a mix of familiar faces. Eniola Badmus, Destiny Etiko, Damilola Oni, Nancy Isime, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman and Bisola Aiyeola are nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

For Best Supporting Actor, the nominees include Akeem Ogara, Mike Ezuruonye, Kelechi Udegbe, Jide Awobona, Prince Nelson Enwerem, Abba Ali Zaky and Ibrahim Suleiman.

The Director of the Year category features six nominees, including Toka McBaror for The Creek, Jack’enneth Opukeme for Aba Blues, Kayode Kasum for Love and New Notes, Bayo Tijani and Abbey Lanre for Efunroye: The Unicorn, Asurf Oluseyi for 3 Cold Dishes and Daniel Etim Effiong for The Herd.

The six films also feature in the Movie of the Year category, making it a closely contested race among the productions that dominated the nominations.

In the Best Screenplay category, The Herd, The Creek, 3 Cold Dishes, The Covenant, Love and New Notes and Si Olorun (A Letter to God) are in contention.

Other categories recognise achievements in cinematography, editing, production design, costume, sound, soundtrack, makeup and special effects.

The awards also include categories for Best Indigenous Film, Best Social Message, Best Short Film and Best Documentary, reflecting the range of productions considered for this year’s edition.

Among the documentary nominees are Marked and The Rhythm of Ancestors: Yoruba Bata, while Scratch, The Covenant and Ordinary People will compete for Best Series.

The Best Child Actor category features five nominees, including Royal Aziomaku for Alechen(u), Daniel Adeshina for Irin Ajo, Fiyin Asenuga for Grandpa Must Obey, Nnamani Chibuike Wisdom for The 9th and Tonye Tam Azorbo for Ek(e)mini.

The Best Child Actress category has six nominees, including Fisayo ‘Abebi’ Amodemaja, Michelle Onamade, Marcella Aipoh, Iremide Adeshina, Okorie Emmanuella and Future Lolo Lamai.

The 2026 edition of the BON Awards will be held in Enugu, bringing filmmakers, actors and other industry stakeholders to the southeastern state for the annual celebration of Nigerian cinema.

The nominations span commercial productions, indigenous-language films, short films, documentaries and television series, highlighting the range of projects competing for recognition this year.

The BON Awards, which celebrate achievements in Nigeria’s film industry, will announce this year’s winners at the ceremony in Enugu.