Nigerian Filmmakers to Vie for Place in the 2020 Oscars

With the newly constituted Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC), Nigerian filmmakers now stand a chance to compete in the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) award, popularly known as the Oscars.

The 12-man committee made up of Nollywood stakeholders has been assigned the role to select Nigerian films that can compete in the ‘International Feature Film’ category of the Awards. Thus, the committee has called on Nigerian filmmakers to submit entries for the 2020 edition.

The NOSC, in a statement, said the competition which invites films of any genre is open to Nigerian filmmakers living in Nigeria or in the Diaspora.

“The film has to be 40 minutes, and produced outside the USA. Entries received will be scrutinised under the eligibility rules and the nominated film will represent Nigeria at the Academy Award 2020,” the statement reads.

“For a film to be eligible, it must have, among other criteria, been released in Nigeria between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, and must have been exhibited in a commercial cinema theatre for at least seven days.”

Criteria for selection include originality of story, good directing, acting, cinematography and sound, while the recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English. The NOSC had urged Nollywood filmmakers to avail themselves the opportunity to participate in the Oscars by submitting their films latest, September 20, 2019.

Coming a bit late, the committee attributed it to the delay in approval for the reconstituted 12-man committee by the Academy. NOSC is now made up of the Chairman of the Committee, Chineze Anyaene; Mildred Okwo, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Ngozi Okafor, Charles Novia, Abba Makama, Bruce Ayonote, Ramsey Nouah, Chioma Ude, Shaibu Husseini, Adetokunbo ‘DJ Tee’ Odubawo and CJ Obasi.

Anyaene expressed delight that the committee has been reinstituted after a long hiatus. NOSC was formerly inaugurated in 2014 with the hope of giving filmmakers living in Nigeria and the Diaspora for a shot at the foremost creative industry award scheme globally. However, no Nigerian film met the required standard.

“We don’t take this for granted. We hope the committee fulfils its original mandate, which is to give a platform to credible Nigerian films to compete at the prestigious Academy Awards annually. We couldn’t make any submissions in previous years due to unavailability of qualifying films, but things are looking hopeful, and we are actively working towards having an entry this year,” said Anyaene.

Submissions are expected to be done by post to the NOSC Secretariat at 614 Street, Area 1, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria. Interested filmmakers are advised to visit the NOSC website for further enquiries.

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