Nyawara Ndambia

EARLY LIFE

Nyawara Ndambia is Kenyan and developed an interest in performance through school plays. After high school she joined the Phoenix Theatre in Nairobi (following in the footsteps of her sister Georgie, who was already involved there). Her entry into acting was organic; after performing in stage productions (including a play addressing gender-based violence), she was encouraged to try film and took on her first short film role.

CAREER

Ndambia’s screen career includes both short films and features. Her most widely recognised role is as Mwix, the rebellious teenage sister, in the critically acclaimed Kenyan film Supa Modo (2018), which was Kenya’s official submission for the Academy Awards. Other credits include multiple roles (Neema, Caro, Jay) in The More Things Change (2021) and a range of short films such as Before & After (2015), Torn (2017), Colpo di fulmine (2018), Ten O’Clock (2018, as Arit), City of Life (2018), Numbers (2018), and more recently Njambi and the Missing Bananas (2024, as Auntie T). She has worked across Kenyan independent film and theatre, moving from stage work at Phoenix Theatre into screen roles.

Nyawara Ndambia is part of the generation of young Kenyan performers contributing to the country’s growing film industry. Her performance in Supa Modo brought her wider visibility both locally and internationally. Public biographical details remain relatively sparse, with most available information centred on her film credits and theatre beginnings.