Nana Kagga Macpherson
Kagga interviewed by RealTVfilms in 2008
Born
Nana Kagale Kagga

(1977-04-06) 6 April 1977
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham, UK
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • producer
  • actress
  • director
Years active2003–present
Children3
AwardsBest Actress in a Feature Film, 2022

Nana Kagga (also known as Nana Kagga-Hill or Nana Hill or Nana Macpherson) is a Ugandan filmmaker, scriptwriter and actress.[1] She wrote and directed the 2012 film The Life and was a writer and executive producer of Beneath the Lies – The Series.[2][3] She has written Mukisa, My Sister's Keeper with Clive Nshiime, Pieces of Me] and many more. She is the co-owner of Savannah MOON, a leading and award winning production company in Uganda.

Life and background

Kagga was born in Nairobi, Kenya to Ugandan parents, one an engineer. Kagga is a Muganda and part of the traditional ruling clan of the Baganda tribe, the Bambejja (princesses). Kagga is the third of six children of both her parents. At the time of her birth, her parents were in exile during the regime of President Idi Amin. Kagga grew up primarily in Uganda in a well-to-do family. In addition to her father and maternal grandfather, four of her siblings are also engineers. Kagga resides in Kampala, Uganda with her 3 children. She is fluent in English and Luganda.

Education

Kagga completed her Primary education at Kampala Parents School. She then joined Gayaza High School, one of the most prestigious girl's schools in Uganda, for her O-Levels. She then did her A-Levels at Red Maids School, Bristol, the oldest Girls' School in the UK. Kagga then joined the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK where she attained a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Kagga was an excellent all-round student who excelled in sciences, arts and sports. During her summer holidays, she would return to Uganda and was a presenter for Jam Agenda on WBS, a popular Ugandan TV show.[4]

Career

Engineering

Following her graduation, Kagga moved to Florida, United States, then New Mexico, United States. In New Mexico, she worked at Laguna Industries as a Process Engineer in Laguna working on US Military contracts.[5]

Hollywood (as Nana Hill)

Kagga decided to move to pursue her acting and presenting in Los Angeles and enjoyed some success. Kagga was cast in a number of films including Cowboys and Indians, A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy (Segment 'Reprise'), He's Just Not That into You, Star Trek, CSI: NY – Boo, Life, Runway Stars. In US Theatre, Kagga was cast as Mercy in the play, Butterflies of Uganda by Darren Dahms which was nominated for an NAACP award. Kagga appeared in several music videos by P!nk, Amy Winehouse, Sting, Lenny Kravitz.[6] Kagga also appeared in several TV ads including for KFC, Coors Light, Pepsi, DSW, Microsoft, APPLE, Tylenol, DOVE.[7] While in L.A, Kagga also owned a vintage and resale store on Santa Monica Blvd called A Vintage Affair.

In Uganda

Kagga moved back to Uganda in late 2009 and set up a business, Savannah MOON Ltd. Savannah MOON under the brand, Savannah MOON Productions produced a full-length feature film, The Life[8] which was shown on M-NET, a TV Series Beneath The Lies – The Series,[9] which is currently being shown on Urban TV and digitally distributed by MTN Uganda. Savannah MOON has also co-produced several short and Feature films in addition to TV series.

Nana has created an initiative, You are Limitless (YAL), which aims to motivate, guide and encourage Africans, especially the youth to achieve their full potential. Kagga also works as a Petroleum Engineer for one of the large Oil & Gas companies operating in Uganda. She was one of the judges for Miss Uganda 2018.[10]

Filmography

As an actress

Film

Year Film Role Director Notes
2022 Nalwawo Nanta Emokor Eric Produced at Savannah MOON Productions, Geoffix Films, Spectacle Media
2022 Pieces of Me Indigo Gray Namukasa Nsubuga Nicholas Produced by Savannah MOON Productions
2009 Star Trek Enterprise Crew Member J. J. Abrams Paramount Pictures
He's Just Not That into You Party Guest Ken Kwapis Universal Pictures
2008 A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy (Segment Reprise) Candi Dennis Dortch Magnolia Pictures
2007 Collision Independent film
Hitch-hike Independent film
Cowboys and Indians Indian Short film

Television

Year Title Role Director Notes
2021 Prestige Jazmine TV series produced by Ava Juliet Productions for Pearl Magic Prime
2014 Beneath the Lies – The Series Attorney General Joseph Katsha Kyasi TV series, Savannah MOON Productions
2008 Runway Stars Angel Web series
Life (NBC TV series) Pretty Black Girl TV series, NBC
2007 CSI: NY – Boo Josephine Delacroix Joe Dante TV series, CBS
2006 BET Stars BET

Theater

Year Title Role Director Theater Notes
2008 Butterflies of Uganda[11] Mercy[12] Darren Dahms Mercy Greenway Theater September–October 2008

As a crew member

Year Film/TV series Role Director Notes
2023 Kasozi Heights (Feature film) Co-Director, Casting Director, Assistant, Script Editor, Acting Coach Emokor Eric Produced by Ceekay Films
2023 Goolo (Feature film) Exec. Producer, Script Writer/Editor, Casting Director, Art Director   Geoffrey Kasozi Produced by Savannah MOON, Commissioned by Maisha Magic Movies
2022 Mukisa (Feature film) Exec. Director, Script-writer, Casting Director, Production/ Set Designer Geoffrey Kasozi Produced by Savannah MOON, Commissioned by Maisha Magic Movies
2022 My Sister's Keeper (Feature film) Director, Exec. Producer, Script-writer, Casting Director, Set Designer Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON, Commissioned by Maisha Magic Movies
2022 Pieces of Me (Feature film) Actor, Script-writer, Casting Director, Exec. Producer, Set Designer Nsubuga Nicholas Produced by Savannah MOON, Commissioned by Maisha Magic Movies
2022 Nalwawo (Feature film) Actor, Creator, scriptwriter, producer Emokor Eric Produced by Savannah MOON, Geoffix99 Films, Spectacle Media
2021 Empaabi (Feature film) Co-Director, Casting Director, Exec. Producer Geoffrey Kasozi, Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON, Geoffix99 Films, Spectrum Uganda Media
2020 Embeera (Short film) Director, Script-writer, Casting Director, Exec. Producer Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON, Geoffix99 Films
2020 Ubuntu (Short film) Director, Script-writer, Casting Director, Exec. Producer Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON, Geoffix99 Films
2019 Mela (TV/ Web series) Creator, Scriptwriter, Director Maria Corrazon, Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON
2019 The Quarry (Short film) Casting Director, Exec. Producer Eddie Kagutuzi Produced by Savannah MOON, Baby Plantains production, Balkon Films
2018 Reflections[13] (TV Series pilot episodes) Creator, scriptwriter, director TV series starring Cleopatra Koheirwe, Gladys Oyenbot, Housen Mushema
2016 The Last Breath (Short film) Executive producer, Casting Director Jordan Braise Ndawula Produced by Savannah MOON, Kampala Film School , Balkon films
2014 Beneath The Lies – The Series[14] Creator, scriptwriter, Executive Producer Produced by Kinetic Management Group, 40-Plus Productions, Savannah MOON
How We See It Host, director, producer Ugandan talk show
2012 The Life (Feature film) Director, producer Nana Kagga Produced by Savannah MOON .

Awards

Awards & Nominations
Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2023 Uganda Film Festival Awards 2023 Best Actress in a Feature film Pieces of Me Nominated
Best Screen-play Nominated
Best Feature Film (as Producer) Mukisa Won
Best Production Design Won
Best Film in indigenous language (as Producer) Nominated
Viewer's Choice (as Producer) Nominated
Best Costume Design Nominated
Best Screen-play Nominated
2022 Uganda Film Festival Awards 2022 Best Actress in a Feature Film Nalwawo Won [15]
Best Indigenous Film Won
2021 Uganda Film Festival Awards 2021 Best Actress in a TV Drama Prestige Won [16]

References

  1. "Star Profile: Nana Kagga An All Round Dreamer Changing The Face Of Television". Chano 8. Roy Ruva. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  2. "Nana Kagga parades boo". Kampala Sun. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  3. "New star studded TV series to hit screens in 8 weeks". Satisfaction Ug. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  4. Baranga, Samson (27 September 2012). "Kagga, the engineer with a passion for film". The Observer. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  5. "Caught between the arts and sciences". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  6. "Interview with Nana Kagga of 'The Life'". Mawado. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  7. ""If You Give Yourself Permission to Dream, You Will Be Amazed at What You Can Achieve" Nana Kagga-Macpherson #AfricanWomanOfTheWeek". Bugisi Ruux. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  8. "THE LIFE Official Movie Trailer, Directed by Nana Hill Kagga". Ugandan Diaspora. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  9. "Beneath The Lies' Nana Kaggwa Fit to Burst". Chimpreports. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  10. "Five Miss Uganda beauty pageant judges unveiled". Uganda Online. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. "'Butterflies of Uganda' debuts at Greenway Court Theatre". NICOLE KRISTAL. Backstage. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  12. "Butterflies of Uganda". Backstage. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
  13. "Nana Kagga: Her experience in the Ugandan film industry". Jump. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  14. "Don't Miss!! "Beneath the Lies" TV series, Created by Nana Kagga Macpherson, Premieres Dec 17th, Urban TV". Ugandan Diaspora News. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  15. "Who won award at Uganda Film Festival?". The New Vision. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  16. Jjingo, Ernest. "Nana Kagga, Samuel Kizito win in film awards". The Observer. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
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