Her breakout role as Mary the maid in Imani won her two awards; the Africa Movie Academy Award for Most Promising Actress in 2010[4] sharing the win with Chelsea Eze and Best Actress Award at the African Film Festival of Cordoba, Spain in 2010.[5][6] The film also won an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film in an African Language. Rehema also received recognition from the Variety critic Boyd Van Hoeij who wrote, "Rehema Nanfuka, as a distressed maid in the second-best segment, impresses with her quiet sense of dignity."[7] and The Hollywood Reporter critic Neil Young wrote, "Nanfuka and Buyi are engaging performers and cope well with underwritten characters."[8]