Enugu State will host the 2026 edition of the Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards in November. Love and New Notes lead this year’s nominations with nine, followed by The Herd with eight.
The 18th edition of the BON Awards will bring filmmakers, actors and other industry stakeholders to the south-east for the annual celebration of Nigerian cinema. The organisers have yet to announce the ceremony’s specific date and venue.
Founded in 2009 by Seun Oloketuyi, the BON Awards are among Nigeria’s longest-running film awards. Unlike ceremonies held in a permanent location, BON moves its annual event between states, taking the awards to different parts of the country. Previous editions have been hosted in states including Lagos, Kwara and Osun.
The travelling format offers different states an opportunity to host a major Nollywood industry gathering. It also provides a platform for recognising the range of filmmaking cultures and indigenous-language productions within Nigerian cinema.
The organisers released the 2026 nominees list on 1 November. Love and New Notes lead the nominations with nine, followed by The Herd with eight. The Creek, Aba Blues, Colours of Fire and Efunroye: The Unicorn each received seven nominations, while 3 Cold Dishes secured six. Behind the Scenes and Agesinkole (King of Thieves 2) each received five nominations.
The nominations span acting, directing, screenwriting and technical categories, alongside awards for indigenous-language films, short films, documentaries and television series.
Beyond the competitive categories, the awards will also recognise four industry figures with Special Recognition Awards: veteran actor Pete Edochie, actress and filmmaker Ruth Kadiri, veteran actress Peju Ogunmola and filmmaker Steve Sodiya. The honours recognise their contributions to different areas of the Nigerian film industry.
With Enugu set to host the ceremony, the 2026 edition continues BON’s tradition of taking its annual awards gathering beyond a single location.
