Home Culture Nigeria to Sit Out Oscars 2026 as NOSC Votes “No Submission”
CultureFilmNews

Nigeria to Sit Out Oscars 2026 as NOSC Votes “No Submission”

315

Nigeria will not submit a film for the International Feature Film category of the 2026 Oscars, the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) announced on Monday. At a meeting on 26 September, the committee cast a majority vote for “No Submission” after an open invitation for entry was made in August and six films were received for consideration, NOSC Chairperson Stephanie Linus said.

Despite Nigerian films having improved significantly and raised awareness of IFF norms, there still exists a lack of creative and technical intent that will make them more competitive for international awards, Linus asserted, with dismay that no film was deemed worthy this time. That’s why the NOSC will now be taking more drastic steps to encourage filmmakers to produce with the Oscars in mind.

Nigeria’s brief experience with the Academy’s international film competition has been a mixed bag of landmark successes and heartbreaking failures. “Lionheart,” the country’s first-ever submission in 2019 by Genevieve Nnaji, was disqualified for containing too much English. Desmond Ovbiagele’s “The Milkmaid” was Nigeria’s first film to be officially accepted in 2020, and C.J. Obasi’s “Mami Wata” represented the country in 2023. In 2024, Prince Daniel Aboki’s “Mai Martaba” was submitted for the 97th Academy Awards. None of these entries has yet secured a nomination.

The committee has previously opted not to submit a film in years when it judged that no film met eligibility or competitive standards, for example, after reviewing several Yoruba-language titles in 2022 and determining they were “non-eligible.”

For Nollywood, the NOSC decision rekindles a too-familiar debate about the gap between indigenous success, streaming visibility, and the very creative and technical standards the Academy prizes. The committee suggests that its next step will be to call for intentional Oscar-worthy filmmaking, work that could reimagine production decisions, festival strategy, and the way movie creators balance language, technical ability, and festival appearances.

In the meantime, Nigeria will sit out the 2026 contest, a relief the sector will likely view as both a disappointment and an incentive to rethink its global campaign strategy.

Read: CSS Customs Chiefs Meet In Bamako To Advance Togo Port Interconnection

About The Author

Written by
Ikenna Churchill

Culture storyteller

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

NewsPoliticsWorld

Tanzanian President Uses Banned Platform X for Campaign Messages — The Height of Political Hypocrisy

Tanzania’s president has come under criticism after posting a series of campaign...

News

Nigeria: FG Terminates CCECC’s Port Harcout-Aba Road Contract After Gov Otti’s Warning On 2027 Election Manipulation

The Nigerian government has terminated the 43-kilometre Port Harcourt–Aba Road contract awarded...

Human RightsNews

Five Years After EndSARS, Nigerians Urged To Light Candles In Memory Of Fallen Protesters

As Nigeria marks five years since the 2020 EndSARS protests, a coalition...

AgricultureBusinessNews

Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa Shipments Face Mass Rejections Over Poor Quality

Côte d’Ivoire shippers are rejecting a large percentage of cocoa beans arriving...