Lagos Veteran actress and AMVCA 12 Head Judge Joke Silva has praised the creativity of Nollywood filmmakers while stressing that the industry’s output is often underestimated because of the limited resources behind it.

Speaking at the AMVCA 12 Icons Night held on Thursday, May 7th, she said the entries reviewed this year left her with mixed emotions. “The volume and quality of work we reviewed made me immensely proud of Nollywood,” she said. “Immensely proud considering the kind of budgets we work with. I believe that if the rest of the world truly understood the limitations under which we create, they would salute us a million times over.

Watching our films, watching our stories, I became deeply heartbroken, heartbroken that there are still not enough platforms and spaces to properly showcase the incredible work we are producing.”

She also pushed back against the idea that Nollywood’s distribution challenges are simply about affordability. Instead, she argued that the industry has been too narrow in how it defines its audience.

“People often say distribution is difficult because not enough people can afford access,” she said.

“But I keep saying this: Our audience is not just Nigeria. Our audience is not just in West Africa. Our audience is not only the African continent. Our audience is the entire Black race — well over a billion people across the world, and I believe this deeply.”

Calling for stronger global partnerships and wider visibility, she added, “I am praying that somehow, somewhere, somebody will truly understand this reality… We are everything human beings are.