List of awards and nominations received by Usama Mukwaya

Usama Mukwaya awards and nominations

Mukwaya at the IKON Awards in March 2023
Awards and nominations [a] Award Wins Nominations Totals Africa Movie Academy Awards 0 1 AMVCAs 0 3
Wins	13
Nominations	38

The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Ugandan screenwriter, film director and producer Usama Mukwaya. His major nominations include the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film in an African Language for the 2016 film Bala Bala Sese and three nominations at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, two for the 2023 film, The Passenger and best short film for the 2021 film Sixteen Rounds.

Major associations

Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards

Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) is an annual accolade presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film.The inaugural Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards ceremony was held in Lagos, Lagos State in Nigeria on 9 March 2013, and was broadcast live in more than 50 countries. Entries into the award ceremony are films and TV series that have been aired in the previous year.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2024	The Passenger	Best Indigenous M-Net Original	Nominated	[1] [2]
	The Passenger	Best Scripted M-Net Original	Nominated	[3] [2]
2023	Sixteen Rounds	Best Short film	Nominated	[4] [5]

Africa Movie Academy Awards

The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence of professionals in the African film industry.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	Bala Bala Sese	Best Film in an African Language	Nominated	[6]

Other awards and nominations

Africa Golden Awards

The Africa Golden Awards honors top achievers driving Africa's progress in entrepreneurship, innovation, arts, technology, humanitarian work, and beyond.

Year	Category	Result	Ref.
2025	Best Script Writer	Nominated	[7]

Janzi Awards

The Janzi Awards are envisioned as an inclusive experience where outstanding achievements, innovations and diversity in Uganda's Cultural, Creative and Performing Arts forms are recognized and celebrated.

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2021	Outstanding Producer	Sixteen Rounds, The Blind Date	Won	[8] [9] [10]

Magic Vibe Awards

Magic Vibe Awards is the sole East Africa Awards Ceremony and music festival in the diaspora. They cater to all music genres including film and sports.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	-	Best East African Film Director	Nominated	[11]

New Vision Peoples Choice Film Awards

The New Vision People's Choice Film Awards, also known as NVFilmAwards, is an event that recognizes the talent and achievements of Uganda's film industry. The awards are voted for by the public, who consume the films produced..

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2024	Best Short Film	Nambi	Nominated	[12] [13]

Viewers Choice Movie Awards (Uganda)

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2017	Best Screenplay	Love Faces	Nominated	[14] [15]
	Best Picture		Nominated
	Film of the Year		Won
	Best Director		Nominated
	Best Screenplay	Rehema	Nominated	[14]

Film festival awards

Africa International Film Festival

The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is an annual film festival. The event normally spans through a week and it includes award shows and film training classes.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	Bala Bala Sese	Best Feature Film	Nominated	[16]

Amakula International Film Festival

The Amakula International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Uganda. It is Uganda's oldest film festival founded by Dutch film historian Alice Smits and American filmmaker Lee Elickson.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2018	Love Faces	Best Feature Film	Nominated	[17]
	Rehema	Best Short Film	Nominated	[18]
2016	Bala Bala Sese	Best African Film (Golden Impala Award)	Nominated	[19]

Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa and presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South African, African and international cinema. Most of the screenings are either African or South African premieres.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2022	Sixteen Rounds	Best Short Film	Won	[20] [21]
2021	The Blind Date	Best Short Film	Nominated	[22]
2017	Rehema	Best Short Film	Nominated	[23]

Helsinki African Film Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	Bala Bala Sese	Jury Award for Human Rights and Social Commentary	Nominated	[24]

Kortfilmfestival Kalmthout

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	Nambi	Best International short film - Audience award	Won	[25] [26]

Luxor African Film Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2022	Sixteen Rounds	Best Short film	Special Mention	[27]
2016	Bala Bala Sese	Grand Nile Prize (Long Narrative)	Nominated	[28]

Malawi International Film Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	The Passenger	Best International Feature Film	Won	[29]

Mashariki African Film Festival

Mashariki African Film Festival is an international film festival based in Rwanda, that represent the country in the East African Film Network (EAFN).

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	The Passenger	Long Feature Fiction	Nominated	[30]
2021	Kyaddala	Best TV and web series	Nominated	[31]
	Sixteen Rounds	Best Short Film	Won
2015	Tiktok	Best Short Film	Nominated	[32]

Nador Cinema Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2018	Rehema	Best Short Film	Nominated	[33]

Nile Diaspora International Film Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2013	In Just Hours	Best Short Film	Nominated

Pearl International Film Festival

The Pearl International Film Festival (PIFF), is an annual film festival held in Kampala, Uganda and has been described as one of the biggest film events in Uganda.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	The Passenger	Best Feature	Nominated	[34]
2017	Rehema	Best Short Film	Nominated
2014	In Just Hours	Best Student Film	Nominated	[35]

Uganda Film Festival

The Uganda Film Festival (UFF), is an annual film festival held in Kampala, Uganda founded under the Uganda Communications Commission. The festival is intended to help showcase what the industry is doing and at the same time focusing attention to all the other facets of the industry.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2024	9 Lives	Best Short Film	Nominated	[36]
2023	The Passenger	Best Feature Film	Nominated	[37]
		Best Film In Indigenous Language	Won	[38]
		Viewer's Choice	Nominated
	Nambi	Best Short Film	Nominated	[39]
2022	Sixteen Rounds	Best Short Film	Nominated
	Kyaddala	Best Television Drama	Nominated	[40] [41]
2021	The Blind Date	Best Short Film	Won	[42]
2017	Love Faces	Best Production Design/ Costume Design	Nominated	[43]
	Rehema	Best Short Film	Won	[44]

Zanzibar International Film Festival

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2024	The Passenger	Golden Dhow for Best Feature Film	Nominated

Film industry awards

MNFPAC

Mariam Ndagire Film and Performing Arts Centre is a Uganda-based training film initiative for emerging Ugandan filmmakers and mentorship programme for aspiring filmmakers and youth in Uganda.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2010	Hello	Best Screenplay	Nominated	[45]

Movie Furnace

Movie Furnace (Tanuulu) is a Uganda-based non-profit short film competition, for Mariam Ndagire Film and Performing Arts Centre alumni (MNFPAC), founded by Mariam Ndagire.

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2013	In Just Hours	Best Director	Won	[46]
2012	Smart Attempt	Best Director	Finalist

Miscellaneous awards and honors

The Forty under 40 Africa awards (2026)

Mukwaya is nominated for the 2026 Forty Under 40 Africa Awards in the Entertainment category. ^[47] The Forty under 40 Africa Awards is to identify, honour and celebrate a cross-section of the continents most influential and accomplished young business leaders under the age forty from a wide range of industries, who are committed to business growth, professional excellence and community service and have risen up the ranks of their companies or industries at a relatively young age as result of this.

Fellow of the Young & Emerging Leaders Project (CLASS OF 2019)

The Young & Emerging Leaders Project (YELP) is an initiative of the LéO Africa Institute, which has been ongoing since 2017, that annually inducts 20-30 outstanding thought leaders into a fellowship program designed to train and orient values of self-advancement, integrity, social responsibility, and socioeconomic transformation. ^[48]

Film and Television Award - Young Achievers Awards 2011

The Young Achievers Awards is a national competition held annually in Uganda which selects and promotes the best practice and excellence in youth creativity.

Trailblazer Award - MNFPAC (CLASS OF 2010)

The Mariam Ndagire Film and Performing Arts Centre awarded Usama the trailblazer award during the institutes' 2020 graduation as an exceptional student for his outstanding contribution towards the Ugandan entertainment industry. On the very event, Usama received a diploma in film directing and screenwriting from now a fully recognized training institute by Directorate of Industrial Training. ^[49]

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Usama Mukwaya at IMDb

References

1. Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They recognize several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition, and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. Awards in certain categories do not have prior nominations, and only winners are announced by the jury. For simplification, and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

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