Madina Nalwanga (born February 2, 2002) is a Ugandan actress known for her lead role as

Phiona Mutesi Phiona Mutesi (born 28 March 1996) is a Ugandan chess player. She has represented Uganda at four Women's Chess Olympiads, and is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. Mutesi is the subject of a 2012 book and a 2016 fil ...

in ''

Queen of Katwe ''Queen of Katwe'' is a 2016 American biographical sports drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. Starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in ...

'' (2016). The film depicts the life of Mutesi, a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n girl living in a slum in

Katwe Katwe is an area in the city of Kampala, Uganda's capital. Location Katwe, located in Makindye Division, is bordered by Nakasero to the north, Nsambya to the east, Kibuye, Uganda, Kibuye and Makindye to the southeast, Ndeeba to the south and Meng ...

who learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master. This role earned her the Most Promising Actor award at 2017

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

in Lagos, Nigeria. She also won an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

, a Women Film Critics Circle Award, and was nominated for a Critic's Choice Award.

Biography

Madina was born in the poor

neighborhood in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, and spent her childhood selling corn on the streets. Nalwanga was discovered by a casting director at a community dance class in the

Kabalagala Kabalagala is a neighbourhood in Kampala, the capital and largest city in Uganda. It houses some of the leading partygoers in the city. It is located next to Nsambya where the American Embassy in Uganda is found. Location Kabalagala is bordered b ...

neighborhood of

, a slum known for prostitution. During the filming of ''Queen of Katwe'',

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards ...

took Nalwanga to see ''

Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...

'' with other kids from the set, and discovered she'd never seen a movie when she asked, "Is that what we are doing?" When she watched ''Queen of Katwe'', it was only the second time she'd been inside a movie theater. She has said her young life closely mirrored that of her character Phiona in ''Queen of Katwe''. At 17 years old, Forbes named her the youngest person on their 2018 "30 Under 30" list. According to a

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

study from their department of Economics, students in Uganda who watched ''Queen of Katwe'' before taking their national exams received better grades than those who didn't.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nalwanga, Madina 2002 births 21st-century Ugandan actresses Ugandan film actresses People from Kampala Living people