Fak'ugesi Awards

Celebrating the Best
in African Digital Creativity

The Fak'ugesi Awards are the premier recognition of digital creative excellence on the African continent.
Presented annually as a highlight of the Fak'ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, the Awards honour outstanding creative work across immersive media, video games, animation, digital art, design and music. Now in their fourth edition, the Awards have become the definitive measure of where African digital creativity is and where it is headed.
Founded in 2023 as a collaboration between Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Wits School of Arts Digital Arts Department, the Fak'ugesi Awards exist on a simple conviction: the most significant digital creative work on the continent deserves to be seen, named and celebrated.

PROMPT: The Live Festival Guide View Programme Snapshot
Fak'ugesi Awards
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2026 Nominees

Ashay Parbhoo

Nominee · Animation

Ashay Parbhoo

Leal Bob Bernstein

Nominee · Animation

Leal Bob Bernstein

Lola Aikins

Nominee · Animation

Lola Aikins

Joshua Penniken

Nominee · Animation

Joshua Penniken

Lebo Magolego

Nominee · Animation

Lebo Magolego

Siya Peter

Nominee · Animation

Siya Peter

tafadzwa e shumba

Nominee · Animation

tafadzwa e shumba

Tabproduction Studios Ltd.

Nominee · Animation

Tabproduction Studios Ltd.

Gladwin Stellenberg

Nominee · Animation

Gladwin Stellenberg

EZEKIEL OSUNLANA

Nominee · Design

EZEKIEL OSUNLANA

Adeyemi Temidayo

Nominee · Design

Adeyemi Temidayo

imvelaphi tech

Nominee · Design

imvelaphi tech

Shaquille Abdul-Rasheed

Nominee · Design

Shaquille Abdul-Rasheed

Kamo Mashele

Nominee · Digital Art

Kamo Mashele

Gugulethu Ndlalani

Nominee · Digital Art

Gugulethu Ndlalani

nhlanhla dhlamini

Nominee · Digital Art

nhlanhla dhlamini

Mahoutondji Kinmagbo

Nominee · Digital Art

Mahoutondji Kinmagbo

Mogomotsi Mogomotsi

Nominee · Digital Art

Mogomotsi Mogomotsi

ARTdirector

Nominee · Digital Art

ARTdirector

Simamkele Mrwetyana

Nominee · Digital Art

Simamkele Mrwetyana

Aurelio Mofuga

Nominee · Immersive Media

Aurelio Mofuga

closerlook-vr-oldways-official-trailer-game-devs-of-color-ex wwwp.1200-2806839620

Nominee · Immersive Media

closerlook-vr-oldways-official-trailer-game-devs-of-color-ex wwwp.1200-2806839620

Alex Mkwizu

Nominee · Immersive Media

Alex Mkwizu

oliyad tesfaye

Nominee · Immersive Media

oliyad tesfaye

oliyad tesfaye

Nominee · Immersive Media

oliyad tesfaye

Arielle Marinakis

Nominee · Immersive Media

Arielle Marinakis

Lutho Kondlo

Nominee · Music

Lutho Kondlo

Leal Bob Bernstein

Nominee · Music

Leal Bob Bernstein

Mike Ngudle

Nominee · Music

Mike Ngudle

Kabelo Gopane

Nominee · Music

Kabelo Gopane

Tabproduction Studios Ltd.

Nominee · Music

Tabproduction Studios Ltd.

Rowan Chiyanike

Nominee · Music

Rowan Chiyanike

zinhle mazibuko

Nominee · Video Games

zinhle mazibuko

nhlanganiso tshabangu

Nominee · Video Games

nhlanganiso tshabangu

DELUXE CREATION STUDIOS

Nominee · Video Games

DELUXE CREATION STUDIOS

LuandaMagere

Nominee · Video Games

LuandaMagere

Ma3Simulator Poster

Nominee · Video Games

Ma3Simulator Poster

Sangwani Joe Mkandawire

Nominee · Video Games

Sangwani Joe Mkandawire

Siphelele Mabaso

Nominee · Video Games

Siphelele Mabaso

Dolapo Olaopa-Thompson

Nominee · Video Games

Dolapo Olaopa-Thompson

nhlanganiso tshabangu

Nominee · Video Games

nhlanganiso tshabangu

Bisrat ashagre

Nominee · Video Games

Bisrat ashagre

2025 Winners

NAJIAMINI

Animation · Short Films

NAJIAMINI

Tai Impact

Tanzania

Superscientists: Origins

Animation · Short Films

Superscientists: Origins

Superscientists

South Africa

The Fortune Teller

Animation · Student Films

The Fortune Teller

Puleng Manganye

South Africa

The Apo Chair

Design

The Apo Chair

Athanasius Johnson

Nigeria

Venus in Fur: An Ode to Mosadi

Digital Art · Screen Based

Venus in Fur: An Ode to Mosadi

Studio Taki

South Africa

Alienated

Digital Art · Photography

Alienated

Khumo Ramaila

South Africa

Unmuted: The Power of African Youth Movements

Digital Art · Photography

Unmuted: The Power of African Youth Movements

Jopee Dairo

Nigeria

Experience Africa

Immersive Media · Immersive Reality

Experience Africa

Dobiison Ghana Ltd

Ghana

Cradle MR

Immersive Media · Immersive Reality

Cradle MR

Cradle

Nigeria

The Well of Hajar

Immersive Media · Virtual Reality

The Well of Hajar

Shameelah Khan in collaboration with Nicola Pilkington and Geoffrey Diver

South Africa

Tales of Luanda

Prototype of the Year

Tales of Luanda

Jiwe Games

Kenya

Relooted

Video Games · Desktop Games

Relooted

Nyamakop

South Africa

Queen Idia

Video Games · Desktop Games

Queen Idia

Elder Studios

Ethiopia

Rasta Santa

Video Games · Mobile Games

Rasta Santa

Deluxe Creation Studios

Nigeria

Awards Supercut

Fak'ugesi 2025

Each category recognises projects that expand the field, work that challenges inherited assumptions, opens new creative territory, or reframes how technology is used within African contexts.

The Awards are not a retrospective exercise. They are a live record of the active fields they recognise. Applications and nominations are open to completed projects, prototypes, and early-stage work. The core criterion is not the state of completion but a compelling minimum viable product.

The Awards are adjudicated by a panel drawn from creative technology, academia, design, media, and industry leadership. To be shortlisted is to enter serious conversation with some of the most consequential digital work being produced on the continent today. The Awards do not reward proximity to a global standard. They reward the work that is building the next one.

The Festival Director's Award is being inaugurated at Fak'ugesi 2026 to recognise practitioners whose work is fundamentally expanding the possibilities of African digital culture, honouring imagination sustained over time and the longer arc of influence.

Categories

Animation01
  • Short films, feature length, title animations
  • Student animations
  • Teasers & trailers, animated series
Video Games02
  • Mobile
  • Desktop
  • Demo & student games
Immersive Media (XR)03
  • Augmented Reality (AR)
  • Virtual Reality (VR)
  • Student XR projects
Digital Arts04
  • Digital film, photography & digi-manipulation
  • Performance with digital components
  • Screen-based digital art
Design05
  • Industrial design, architecture & fashion
  • Digital, spatial & speculative design
  • Design research and creative innovation
Cross-Sector Music06
  • Compositions linked to animation
  • Video games, immersive media, digital art
  • And design
Festival Director's Award07
  • Imagination sustained over time
  • Work that opens new pathways and builds communities
  • Recognising the longer arc of influence

Requirements

  1. 1. Applicants must be 18 or older and reside in any African country. Submitted work must be the applicant's own original creation.
  2. 2. Applications must be submitted in one category only. Prototypes and early-stage work are eligible alongside completed projects. The core criterion is a compelling minimum viable product.
  3. 3. Work involving jointly owned intellectual property must include written consent from all rights holders. Self-nominations and third-party nominations are both accepted.
  4. 4. Nominations open August 2026. The adjudication panel is drawn from creative technology, academia, design, media, and industry leadership. Panel members are announced when nominations open.

2026 Jury

Nthabeleng Phoria
Nthabeleng
Phoria
Fak'ugesi Awards Chairperson
Violet Maila
Violet
Maila
Cross-Sector Music Juror
Evans Karagu
Evans
Karagu
Video Games Juror
Limpho Moeti
Limpho
Moeti
Video Games Juror
Ingrid Kopp
Ingrid
Kopp
Immersive Media Juror
Lazi Mathebula
Lazi
Mathebula
Design Juror
Njugu wa Macharia
Njugu
wa Macharia
Animation Juror
Nkululeko Sedibe
Nkululeko
Sedibe
Design Juror
Renzo Filinich
Renzo
Filinich
Digital Art Juror
Ronaldo Cameron
Ronaldo
Cameron
Animation Juror
Telmo Dos Reis
Telmo
Dos Reis
Immersive Media Juror

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