Kenya’s creative industry converged on Saturday, May 2, at the 14th Kalasha International Film and TV Awards, held at the Kenyatta International Convention Center in Nairobi.
The event was historic, as for the first time, the president of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto, attended the award ceremony.
During the event, outstanding talents and achievements in the film, TV, and content creation were recognized, with each winner receiving a prize.
In a statement, Ruto lauded participants in the creativity industry, saying they were contributing to the creative economy and the transformative agenda.
“The creative economy lies at the heart of our transformation agenda – empowering our youth by unlocking talent, expanding opportunity, and driving inclusive growth,” he stated.
The 14th Kalasha Awards event drew over 3,000 delegates, 100 exhibitors, and representatives from more than 30 countries.
Attendance and engagement of Kalasha in East and Central Africa’s premier platform indicated that the country was fostering international partnerships.
Kalasha Awards Category Winners
Diverse talents were celebrated during the award ceremony, with several categories recognizing the best performers.
The Best Lead Actress award in the film industry was awarded to Michelle Lemuya for her best performance as Nawi in Nawi.
Lemuya, who is a young actress from Turkana, dedicated her award to her mentors and family, citing that she had gone beyond the expectations by winning the award despite coming from an overlooked region.
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Best Lead Actress TV Drama
June Njenga claimed Best Lead Actress in a TV Drama for her Shiku role in Big Girl Small World, which was her debut production on Showmax in May 2024.
In the Big Girl Small World show, June Njenga portrayed the character of a plus-sized career woman who was working towards regaining her life after involvement in a huge scandal.
June celebrated plus-size representation and African narratives on platforms like Showmax and other media platforms that aired the plus-size creative presentations.
Best Short Film Director
Omar Hamza, a filmmaker and director whose award-winning films have been featured in the Netherlands, the Zanzibar International Film Festival, and the Silicon Valley African Film Festival in the USA, was awarded Best Short Film Director for the short film Sukari.
The director praised his team for their dedication and credited DocuBox, the East African Documentary Film Fund, and the Mombasa County for their support.
Best TV Drama
In the awards, Kash Money, a Kenyan crime drama TV series that premiered on Netflix on January 31, 2025, under the producers Philippe Bresson and Grace Kahaki, was awarded as the best under the TV Drama category.
The award for the best supporting actor in the TV drama was awarded to Lenana Kariba, who plays the role of Njagi, and the best supporting actress award was given to Amara Tari in her role as Cate Njenga.
Best Film Awards
Under producer Brizan Were Nawi got the award for the best feature film. At the same time, Sara, produced by Sarah Tenoi alongside her production team, won the award for the best Kenyan indigenous language film.
Best Student Film was awarded to the Dinner for Three by Brian Kabugza in collaboration with the MultiChoice Talent Factory.
Furthermore, John Karanja received a lifetime achievement award at the 14th Kalasha Awards event.
On her part, media personality Shiksha Arora won the Positive Impact Content Creator of the Year award at the Kalasha International Film and TV Awards. She pledged to donate KSh 200,000 from her prize to a person in need.
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Kalasha Awards Prizes
Initially, the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) had announced that each winner would receive KSh 200,000, a trip to Jambo Mutara Lodge or the Mara, and makeup hampers from Lindsey Global Nigeria Ltd.
However, President Ruto announced that the prize money would be increased to KSh 500,000 per winner.
“I know that the good people from KFC have given every winner 200,000. And because I’m here, we are going to raise that to 500,000 for every winner,” Ruto declared.
Additionally, he pledged KSh 10 million each for new categories on affordable housing and health and Social Health Authority (SHA) themes, encouraging creative producers to prioritize national priority content.
Government Initiatives
Ruto explained that the government was taking steps, including the establishment of a State Department for the Creative Economy in Government, to deepen this commitment to the creative industry.
Additionally, Ruto stated that a Creative Economy Office has been created at the State House with expected appointments of a Director of Gaming, a Secretary for Film Services, and a Head of Music and Fashion.
Further investments, including directing 30% of government advertising spend to creative platforms and fast-tracking the Creative Economy Bill 2026, were in place, according to Ruto.
