Ernest Nsimbi, better known as GNL Zamba, is adding another line to his creative résumé after Infinity, a musical film he created with Miriam Tamar, won Best Local Short Film at the 2026 Uganda Film Festival Awards.
For an artist who built his reputation with a microphone, the award marks an intriguing new chapter—one that sees GNL moving deeper into visual storytelling and exploring film as another way of telling Ugandan stories.
Infinity is far from a conventional short film. The production weaves together music, fashion, poetry, dance and cultural storytelling, while using Uganda’s landscapes and heritage as part of its visual identity.
The film’s appeal has also stretched beyond Uganda, earning screenings in the United States before receiving local recognition at the Uganda Film Festival, organised under the Uganda Communications Commission.
At the awards, Infinity emerged ahead of four other nominated productions: Mfuko The Duffle Bag by Pascal Praise Mumbere and Ian Owora, Subliminal by Sharon Atuhaire Achire, Twisted by Namulindwa Myra Sharifah and Ntale Derrick Christopher, and Last Taxi To Kawempe by Walta Gabriel Busulwa and Akello Isabella Francisa.
For GNL, the victory was less about arriving and more about beginning.
In his acceptance speech, the rapper-turned-filmmaker thanked Ugandans who voted for the film and those who continue to believe in Ugandan stories. He also paid tribute to the people who helped bring the project to life, particularly his creative partner Miriam, who worked on the film’s costume design alongside Abbas, and director Mr Pest.
“This is our very first step in directing Ugandan films and I believe it is a seed that will later become a forest,” GNL said.
The statement perhaps best captures the ambition behind Infinity. The Shs5 million dummy cheque that accompanied the award is significant, but the bigger prize for the Nsimbi duo is the validation that their experiment in combining different creative disciplines can resonate with audiences.
GNL and Miriam have increasingly positioned themselves as creatives interested in more than one artistic lane. With Infinity, they bring their worlds of music, fashion and visual art into cinema, using each element to strengthen the other.
The result is a film that does not simply tell a story but attempts to immerse viewers in a Ugandan aesthetic—through sound, movement, clothing, poetry and scenery.
For GNL, the journey from music to film is therefore not necessarily a departure from what he has always done. It is an expansion of the same instinct that has driven his artistic career: telling stories.
And if Infinity is indeed the seed he describes, its Uganda Film Festival victory could be the first sign of a much larger cinematic forest to come.
