NBO Film Festival has announced its 2026 winners at Nairobi’s Prestige Cinema following a 10-day programme that awarded six industry prizes to four film projects.

The awards matter to Kenya’s film industry because they support projects across development, production, post-production and distribution.

“Cinema for Us means giving African films a place in our public life,” said festival co-founder and artistic director Mbithi Masya.

The organisers said the seventh edition introduced three dedicated juried competitions and screened 53 films across multiple Nairobi venues.

The programme added a downtown screening venue and expanded its industry activities to three days.

Tithes and Offerings received three of the six industry prizes awarded through the NBO Project Showcase.

The fiction feature won the Bigger Motion Distribution Award for fiction, the Same But Different Development Award and the Kenya Grips and Sparks Production Award.

Tony Koros wrote and directed the project while Tony Kamau and Louise Kamwangi produced it.

Second Term received the Africa Post Office Post Production Award.

Joan Njeri and Karanja Ng’endo directed the documentary while Njeri also produced it.

Amebakisha won the Bigger Motion Distribution Award for non-fiction.

Valentine Zikki directed the documentary and Eddah Kiruhi produced it.

The NBO Film Festival Development Award went to The One with the Tempered Flower.

Neema Ngelime directed the documentary and Ivy Kiru produced it.

The release did not disclose the monetary value or specific support attached to the six industry awards.

Rwandan film Ben’Imana won the Fiction Feature Jury Prize under director Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo.

The jury praised its examination of the legacy of the genocide against the Tutsi.

Lady received a Special Commendation for director Olive Nwosu’s artistic risk-taking.

The Women Who Poked the Leopard won the inaugural Nick Wambugu Documentary Award under director Patience Nitumwesiga.

The award honours the late Kenyan documentary filmmaker Nick Wambugu.

Crocodile received a Special Mention for the work of directors The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly.

God Sleeps on Sunday won the Short Film Jury Prize under director Naishe Nyamubaya.

The jury also awarded a Special Mention to Gift Kyansimire Oroni’s The Big Sad Nairobi 2 and recognised its use of animation.

The festival posthumously awarded its Vanguard Prize to Yahya Chavanga for his contribution to East African film production over more than three decades.

Chavanga worked as a location manager, assistant director and actor.

Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis attended the festival’s first filmmaker retrospective and delivered a masterclass with support from European Union National Institutes for Culture.

NBO Industry Days ran from 21 to 23 Oct 2026 and addressed financing, distribution, safer sets, intimacy coordination and post-production.

Founded in 2017, NBO Film Festival is a Nairobi-based platform that develops audiences for Kenyan, African and international films.

NBO Film Festival is screening 54 films across Nairobi during its seventh edition as an expanded industry programme offers filmmakers buyer meetings and development funding.

Organisers said in a release dated 22 Oct 2026 that the programme includes 33 features and 21 shorts.

NBO Film Festival artistic director Mbithi Masya said the event was about “building a deeper culture of cinema”.

The industry programme matters to Kenya’s film business because it connects selected projects with international buyers and festival scouts.

Organisers said participants in the NBO Project Showcase will pitch projects to industry professionals and attend one-on-one meetings.

Selected projects will also be eligible for the Ksh250,000 NBO Development Grant under the expanded industry programme.

The release did not specify the number of participating projects.

It also gave no announcement date for the grant recipient.

The festival opened on 15 Oct 2026 at Prestige Cinema in Nairobi with the Rwandan feature Ben’Imana.

Organisers said the screening marked the film’s African premiere and brought its cast together to watch it for the first time.

The Kenya and Germany production Call Me Queen screened as a special presentation on 17 Oct 2026.

This year’s theme is Cinema for Us.

The programme runs at Prestige Plaza, Unseen Cinema and Alliance Française Nairobi.

Free community screenings are also available at Kaloleni Social Hall through advance registration.

Organisers said single screening tickets start at Ksh1,000.

Lunchbox screenings cost Ksh750.

The Buddy Ticket costs Ksh4,000 for five tickets and the Box Set offers five different films at the same price.

A Golden Ticket covering the full festival programme costs Ksh20,000.

Tickets are available through Mookh.

The festival has three juried competitions covering 15 films across fiction features, documentaries and short fiction.

The returning Fiction Feature Film Competition is joined by the new Nick Wambugu Prize for Documentary and Short Film Fiction Competition.

Judy Kibinge chairs the fiction feature jury.

Sam Soko chairs the documentary jury.

Lydia Matata chairs the short fiction jury alongside a panel of filmmakers and industry professionals.

Kenyan titles elsewhere in the programme include Cards on the Table, Kamĩrĩĩthũ Afterlives, Stero and Tracks.

The festival is also presenting its first filmmaker retrospective dedicated to Senegalese director Alain Gomis.

The European Union National Institutes for Culture supports the retrospective featuring Félicité, Rewind & Play, Tey, L’Afrance and Andalucia.

Organisers said Gomis would attend audience and industry events during the festival.

The wider industry programme includes labs and professional exchanges alongside filmmaker conversations and City Dialogues.

The festival closes on 25 Oct 2026.

Call Me Queen begins its East African theatrical release on 30 Oct 2026.