Judith Emike Audu-Foght, professionally known as Judith Audu, is a Nigerian film and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

, director,

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, presenter,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

. She is widely known for her movie production credits which include Just Not Married, ''The Family'' and ''The Sessions''. In 2019, she was listed among the

YNAIJA ''YNaija'' is a Nigerian online content publishing platform, founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams of RED Africa media group. ''YNaija'' launched in May 2010 with columnists and various news sources. It offers news, original content ...

100 most Influential Nigerians in Film. As an award winning Nigerian actress and film maker, she is passionate about social justice and she has been supporting the

UN Refugee Agency The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, lo ...

(UNHCR) since 2019. She also uses her platform to educate on issues relating sexual and gender based violence; this influenced the creation of her film "Not Right" which raises awareness on the domestic violence in Nigerian society and also encourages women to voice out. Judith Audu, been the currently, Nigeria's most sought after young producers in the movie industry; who began her career as an actress and has emerge to be a producer of international reckon. Her first feature film production "Just Not Married" was one of the eight Nollywood movies that was selected which premiered at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

s (TIFF) in Canada.

Early life

Audu was born in Navy Town, Ojo to a Naval Personnel father; Audu Ali Audu and mother; Gift Salamat Audu. Her mother was a restaurateur and entrepreneur that owned a chain of restaurants and a rental service for events. Judith has two brothers, elder brother Franklin Audu and a younger brother Abdulmalik Audu. She is the second child and only daughter. She is from the

Auchi Auchi is a city in Edo State, Nigeria. Auchi, a part of Etsako West, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, serves as the Local Government headquarters. Other towns in the Etsako West local government area include: Uzairue, Afenmai ...

area of

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

in the southern part of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Audu attended Navy Town Primary School, Ojo, from 1988 to 1993, then proceeded to Navy Town Secondary School from 1993 to 1999, where she majored in the Arts. She then went to the Nigerian French Language Village,

Badagry Badagry, also spelled Badagri, (Gun language, Gun: Gbagli) is a coastal town and Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Po ...

in 2001 and obtained a Diploma that she used in getting a Direct Entry into the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

in 2002. In 2005, Audu obtained a B.A in French from the University of Lagos. After her National Youth Service (NYSC) In Kebbi State in 2006/2007, She went back to the University of Lagos and applied for master's degree course in Public and International Affairs from 2008 to 2010, where she graduated with a degree in Masters of Public and International Affairs (MPIA).

Career

While at the

, Audu joined a theater group called the Campus Playhouse and took part in several stage productions. From there she auditioned to be a part of Theater 15 which was the most respected theater group in the University of Lagos at the time. It was from these theatre groups that Audu honed her acting skills and worked alongside Nigerian television personality Denrele Edun, actor/comedian Koffi and Director Wole Oguntokun. In 2004, when the University of Lagos went on a ten-month strike, Audu was invited by her colleague Denrele Edun to Alpha Vision Company where she auditioned for and got her first role on the small screen in Tajudeen Adepetu's TV Series, One Love. In the same year, Audu officially registered herself as an actor with the Actor's Guild of Nigeria and began attending auditions, through which she got a role in a Ghetto film by Femi Ogedegbe titled ''Tears of the Ghetto (Life is beautiful)''. At the end of the University strike, Audu went back to school and took a hiatus from acting, although she did take a part in an independent children's series, ''Funtime'', where she played the role of Vanessa. During her compulsory National Youth Service, she was the presenter and producer of a programme on Kebbi State Television called ''French For Beginners'' and was also the Drama Troupe Director. In 2011, after completing her master's degree program, Audu attended an audition for a role in the television drama, Tinsel and got the role of a gynaecologist, she has since been part of several Television Series like ''Emerald'', ''Seekers'', ''Burning Spears'', ''Tinsel'', ''Huzzel'', ''4 Walls'', ''Comfort Zone'', ''Rush'', ''Funtime'', ''Life is Beautiful'', ''Case File'', ''House Apart'' and ''Queens Drive''. In 2014, Audu produced her first film, a short film on domestic violence titled 'Not Right', which starred Omowunmi Dada, Ani Iyoho, Philip Festus and Judith Audu. In 2014, Audu began airing a radio show on a popular online radio station, Igroove Radio tagged ''Meet the Actor With Judith Audu'' where she does personality chats with Actors from all over the world. In May 2016, Audu produced and premiered her first ever, full-length feature film, under her production company, ''Judith Audu Productions''. The movie, titled ''Just Not Married'' features

Stan Nze Stanley Ebuka Nzediegwu (born May 15,1989 and known professionally as Stan Nze) is a Nigerian actor known for his role in the Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, 2020 remake of ''Rattlesnake (1995 film), Rattlesnake.'' Stan won the 2022 AMVCA Award un ...

, Rotimi Salami, Ijeoma Agu, Obutu Roland, Brutus Richard, Gregory Ojefua, Judith Audu and Perpetua Adefemi. The movie enjoyed rave reviews and topped cinema ratings across Nigeria in the first few weeks of its release.

Personal life

Judith Audu married Morten Foght on 1 July 2011. Audu is an avid blogger and has two blogs: www.judithaudu.blogspot.com where she profiles up and coming artists and does entertainment news, and the other is www.playingwithrecipes.blogspot.com where she shares food recipes she plays with as she is also a foodie and loves experimenting and trying out recipes from all over the world.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, she was nominated for the Best Female Actor Award 2013 at the Nigerian Broadcasting Merit Award. In December 2014, Audu won the award for Best Actress at the ''In-Short International Film Festival 2014'' for her role in the short-film, Alpha Mom. Audu's short film ''Not Right'', which she produced and starred in was nominated for the 2015 ''

Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards The ''Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards'' (AMVCA) are a set of accolades presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film across Africa,, through an annual ceremony hosted in the Exhibition Center of the Eko H ...

'' as 'Best Short Film', the film was also nominated at the Best of Nollywood Awards, Nollywood Movie Awards and at the Abuja International Film Festival in 2014. In 2016, Audu won the award for ''Best Actress'' at the ''Best of Nollywood'' Awards for the movie ''Just Not Married''. Audu won the award for ''Best Actress in a Supporting Role'' (African Film in English) for the movie ''Obsession'' at the 22nd African Film Awards in the UK in November 2018, as well as at the ''Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival'' for her role in the movie ''Unfinished Business''. In February 2020, the

United Nations High Commission for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

(UNHCR) named Audu as a ''"high profile supporter"'' for its "Telling the Real Story" (TRS) project. In April 2021, she was given a recognition award at the Eko Star Film and TV Awards. She also received a commendation for her work from the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture in 2021.

Filmography

Production credits

Directorial credits

Acting credits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audu, Judith Nigerian bloggers Nigerian women bloggers Nigerian television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Actresses from Lagos University of Lagos alumni 21st-century Nigerian actresses 21st-century Nigerian women writers Nigerian female adult models Nigerian television producers Nigerian women television producers Nigerian film producers Nigerian women film producers Nigerian television presenters Nigerian women television presenters Casting directors Women casting directors Nigerian female models Actresses from Edo State Nigerian film directors