Joke Da Silva

Joke Silva, MFR is a Nigerian actress, director, and businesswoman. A graduate of the University of Lagos and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, she began her career in film in the early 1990s. In 2006, Silva was awarded the "Best Actress in a Leading Role" award at the 2nd Africa Movie Academy Awards for her role in Women's Cot. Later that year, Silva starred opposite Genevieve Nnaji in Mildred Okwo's action thriller 30 Days, which received 10 nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2008. She also narrated Jeta Amata's Anglo-Nigerian production The Amazing Grace,which was shot in Calabar. In 2007, Silva starred opposite Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Michael Okon and Fred Essien in Ndubuisi Okoh's To Love and to Hold. Silva won a Best Supporting Actress award in 2008 for her "methodical portrayal of a grandmother" in White Waters (2007), though she was not at the ceremony to receive her award in person.In a November 2008 interview, Silva professed that "whenever she had to play an evil character in a film, she would pray and use Jesus as her 'hedge'". Silva is also the recipient of an EMOTAN Award from African Independent Television (AIT) and the SOLIDRA Award for Visual Art. In 2011, Silva starred alongside Nse Ikpe Etim, Wale Ojo and Lydia Forson in Kunle Afolayan's romantic comedy Phone Swap. Lauded by the critics, and one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, it received four nominations at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards, including a nomination for Best Nigerian Film. It also won the award for Achievement in Production Design. In 2013, Silva took to the stage to appear in the Thespian Family Theatre and Productions staging of the "Mad King of Ijudiya" at the Agip Hall of Muson Centre of Lagos at Christmas. Two shows were put on at 3 pm and 6 pm on 21, 22, 28 and 29 December, which Vanguard described as a "rich blend of folklore, traditional dance and music that naturally transports the audience to a typical African village setting"