Okawa Shaznay: Biography, Age, Career, Family And Movies

Okawa Shaznay is a Nollywood actress from Cameroon and the first from her country to successfully break into Nollywood with her role in the blockbuster movie Iyore; starring alongside Rita Dominic and Joseph Benjamin. Okawa Shaznay has also gained more prominence with her leading role in the 2016 hit TV series Delilah: The Mysterious Case of Delilah Ambrose. She won the Exquisite Lady of the Year (ELOY) award for TV Actress of the year in 2016 for her role in Delilah.

Early life and background

Okawa Shaznay was born in Cameroon. she began her secondary school education in Presbyterian Secondary School Mankon, Bamenda, Cameroon. Shaznay later moved to the United States for higher education, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Southern University.

Career

Shaznay developed interests in performing arts at an early age taking part in stage plays and small film projects in her home country. With the huge influx of Nigerian movies into Cameroon at the time and ongoing, it introduced her to the world of Nollywood in the 90’s which she grew to love and admire. Shaznay featured in her very first movie in Cameroon called “Master DJ” in 2004. She later moved to the United States in 2005 for higher education where she later graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Texas Southern University. It was in Houston tx she joined the All Africa Theater group with whom she moved on the road with for 2 summers performing an adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” playing Ezinne. After then she went on to do a little over 10 African films in the U.S working alongside some of Nollywood’s biggest stars.

During this period from 2010, Shaznay began to have a buzz in the African film industry and was cited in Dulce Camer’s 2010 top 50 Cameroonians to watch out for. A former miss Cameroon USA; She burst into the Nollywood /Gollywood scene in 2013 with a big-screen role in the movie “Cheaters” directed by the legendary African film director Frank Rajah Arase for which she was nominated as Most Promising Actress in the 2nd annual 2013 Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards. She also starred in the 2016 released movie project “REFUGEES” which was filmed in Ghana in 2012 and completed in Atlanta USA towards the later months of 2013. She starred in her first movie shot in Nigeria in 2014 which is the highly anticipated movie Iyore starring alongside Nollywood screen queen Rita Dominic and Joseph Benjamin. Okawa also gave a mind-blowing performance in the 2014 well-received movie “Sisters at War” a.k.a. (Sister’s War/Sister’s Apart) starring alongside Jackie Appiah and Yvonne Nelson.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2004	Master DJ	Sirri
2008	8th Commandment
2009	Caged
2009	Governor’s Gift
2010	The Bet	Grace
2011	The Other Side of Love
2011	This Is Houston
2012	X- Class
2013	High Endz
	Blind Pursuit
	Cheaters 1& 2	Clara	with Jackie Appiah & Adjetey Anang
2014	Sisters At War 1 & 2	Ayah Ampah	with Jackie Appiah, Yvonne Nelson, & Koffi Ajorlolo.
	Cheaters Vacation	Tracy	with Yvonne Nelson, Eddie Watson
	The Prince of Barmah	Rita Nash	with Jackie Appiah, Koffi Ajorlolo & Kalsum Sinare.
2015	Scars	Gaya Lawson	with Mike Ezuruonye, Clarion Chukwurah,& Lilian Esoro.
2015	Iyore	Amenze/Onaiwu Esosa/Princess Ajoke/	with Rita Dominic, Joseph Benjamin, Yemi Blaq, Paul Obazele, Bukky Wright.
2016	Refugees	Nahlela	with Belinda Effah, Yvonne Nelson.
2016	Delilah: The Mysterious Case of Delilah Ambrose (TV series)-Season 1 & 2.	Delilah Ambrose	with Clarion Chukwurah, Michael Okon, Paul Obazele.
2017	Crossed Path	Melody	with Ken Erics, Frank Artus & Emem Inwang.
	Perfect Strangers	Anastasia Lawson	with Desmond Elliott, Segun Arinze, & Barbara Soky.
	Soul Tie	Grace	with Ramsey Nouah.
	Wounded	Wendy	with Desmond Elliott, Ini Edo, & Tony Umez, Padita Agu for Africa Magic Productions.
	Snatched	Grace	with Michael Godson & Linda Osifo for Africa Magic Productions.
	Behind the Face	Amanda	with Tony Umez & Michael Okon.
	Delilah: The Mysterious Case of Delilah Ambrose (TV series)-Season 3.	Delilah Ambrose	with Tony Umez, Segun Arinze, Michael Okon.
2018	The Gamble	Vanessa Williams	with Eucharia Anunobi for ROK.
2018	Save My Heart	Ivory	with Seun Akindele for Africa Magic Productions.
2019	Unbroken Cord		with Ken Erics.
2019 (coming soon)	Love & Lies		with Eddie Watson & Khing Bassey for Africa Magic Productions.
2019 (coming soon)	Customer Service	Stacy	with Etinosa & Khing Bassey for Africa Magic Productions.
2019 (coming soon)	In My Country	Adesua Odihi	with Sam Dede & Bimbo Manuel.

Awards and nominations

Year	Event	Prize	Work	Result
2013	2013 Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards	Most Promising Actress	Cheaters	Nominated
2014	2014 Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Sisters at War	Nominated
2015	2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards	Actress of the Year (Africa)	Iyore	Nominated
2016	Exquisite Lady of the Year (ELOY) Awards	TV Actress of the year	Delilah: The Mysterious Case of Delilah Ambrose	Won
2017	Nollywood and African Film Critics Awards	Best Actress in a series	Delilah: The Mysterious Case of Delilah Ambrose	Won
2018	Africa Movie Academy Awards	Best Actress in a Leading Role	In My Country	Nominated