Nawi: Dear Future Me is a Kenyan-German coming-of-age drama about child marriage, and it just won its 20th film festival award this weekend. The film now has a release date for the U.S. and Canada, plus a trailer for North America.

The film explores the impact of child marriage, which is common in various other parts of the world, through the eyes of a girl in Kenya. Nawi is a gifted 13-year-old and is the best student in her region. Her aspirations of attending high school are destroyed when he father plans to marry her off to a stranger so the family can receive a considerable amount of livestock. This leads Nawi to make a big decision and going on an epic journey.

Nawi is set in the remote Turkana region of Kenya, and stars Michelle Lemuya Ikeny as the titular girl, a role that won her the African Movie Academy Award for best promising actor. The ensemble cast includes Joel Liwan, Ochungo Benson, Ben Tekee, Michelle Chebet Tiren, Patrick Oketch, Nungo Marrianne Akinyi and Nyokabi Macharia. The film is based on a script by Milcah Cherotich that was submitted for a national writing contest and was produced as a collaboration between FilmCrew Media and Baobab Pictures with the Turkana-based NGO Learning Lions, which prioritizes educational opportunities and social empowerment for young people.

Nawi was directed by brothers Toby and Kevin Schmutzler, in addition to Apuu Mourine and Vallentine Chelluget. The film most recently won the Leo Award for best film at the DaVinci International Film Festival in L.A. on Sunday, marking its 20th award in total.

It has a North American release date of March 6, 2026, just ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, from Toronto-based New Mountain Films. The focus is on large cities such as New York, L.A., Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix and Toronto. Founded by Khaled Sabbour, New Mountain focuses on bringing “socially relevant and artistically bold films” to North American audiences. The film also recently screened on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Check out the first trailer for Nawi below.