Kenyan-Nigerian co-production One Woman One Bra has clinched the 2026 Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the BFI London Film Festival, which concluded on 19 October.
In our review, we described the film as “both an intimate character study and a blistering systemic indictment, anchored by Sarah Karei’s performance of quiet ferocity.”
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Written and directed by Kenyan filmmaker Vincho Nchogu and produced by Nigerian Josh Olaoluwa for Kilastory and Conceptified Media, the film was amongst a slate of Nigerian-linked debuts, including Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers and Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow.
Told in Maa, Swahili, and English, and shot in Kenya, One Woman One Bra was developed through the Venice Biennale College Cinema programme, which tasks finalists with making a feature film within a year of selection. The project went on to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before making its UK premiere at BFI London.
The Sutherland Award is the BFI London Film Festival’s top honour for first-time filmmakers. Over the years, previous awardees include Robert Eggers for The Witch (2015) and Mati Diop for Atlantics (2019).
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