Udoka Oyeka

Udoka Oyeka was born in Dallas, Texas, to Solomon and Florence Oyeka. At the age of 2 both his parents left the United States with his older brother and sister and moved back to their home country Nigeria, where he grew up in the buzzing city of Lagos till he finished his High School. His father, a chemical engineer ran his own chemical factory, his mother, a civil servant worked at the National port. Immediately after High School Udoka moved back to Dallas, Texas to attend the University of Texas at Arlington. In his sophomore year, upon taking a theater elective his passion for the stage and acting was born. After graduating he immediately enrolled in Drama School to following his passion for film, of which he found pleasure both behind and in front of the camera. He released his first feature "ZR-7 (The Red House Seven)" in cinemas nationwide (Nigeria) in 2011. "ZR-7" was nominated for Best Child Actor at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in 2011. He followed with the short film titled "Down and Out" which had 3 nominations including Best Short Film at the 2013 AfricaMagic Viewer's Choice Awards (AMVCA); it was an official selection at the 2013 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and was nominated for Best Short Film as well. Udoka was selected for the 2014 Berlinale Film Festival Talent Campus at the Durban International Film Festival where his new project titled "No Good Turn" was also selected for the Script Station. In front of the camera, Udoka is currently a leading cast member on the Hit TV series TINSEL playing the role "Tsav". In his down time he loves to play basketball and soccer and loves listening to world music. Udoka received a lot of acclaim for his film "Living Funeral" which screened in a bunch of international film festivals including Cannes Film Festival 2014, Durban International Film Festival 2014; Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles 2014; the African Film Festival New York 2014, Zimbabwe Film Festival 2014 and the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) 2014. Living Funeral received 8 nominations at the 2014 AfricaMagic Viewer's Choice Awards (AMVCA) including Best Director, Best Movie (Drama), and Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay amongst others. It was also nominated for Best Nigerian Film at AFRIFF 2014, Best Short film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) 2014 and Best Short Film at the Best of Nollywood Awards (BON) 2014. His new film "No Good Turn" deals with the effect of terrorism (Boko Haram) in the Northern part of Nigeria. It showcases how it affects the common man living in the region. The film is already gaining lots of attention in international festival scenes as its been selected officially at the European Independent Film Festival 2016, Durban Int'l Film Festival 2016, Cannes Film Festival Short film corner 2016 amongst others.