Nigeria is returning to the Oscars race after sitting out the previous edition, with Damilola Orimogunje’s Dear Ajayi selected as the country’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC), chaired by filmmaker and actress Stephanie Linus, announced the selection after reviewing films submitted during its 2026 call for entries.
The decision puts Dear Ajayi forward for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the 99th Oscars, scheduled for March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles. The selection does not mean the film has been nominated. It must first go through the Academy’s eligibility and voting processes before the shortlist and eventual nominees are determined.
For Nigerian cinema, the selection marks a return to the international feature film category after Nigeria did not submit an entry for the 98th Academy Awards.
The previous year’s NOSC review committee concluded that none of the films considered met the required level of “creative and technical intentionality”, leaving Nigeria without a submission for that edition.
Dear Ajayi enters this year’s race with a significant festival record already behind it.
Written, directed and produced by Orimogunje, the Nigeria-Germany co-production became the first Nigerian film selected to compete at Venice Days, the Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice International Film Festival.
It subsequently won two awards at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival: the Bisato d’Oro Award for Best Cast and Performances and the CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Prize, also presented with the Fellini Medal.
Set in southwestern Nigeria in the 1990s, Dear Ajayi follows estranged sisters Ade and Titi Ajayi, who are forced to live together while caring for their paralysed mother.
Bimbo Akintola plays Ade, a devout Christian and the family’s primary provider, while Tosin Adeyemi plays Titi, an aspiring singer whose independent outlook puts her at odds with her sister. Lanre Hassan plays their mother, with William Benson, Antar Laniyan, Uzoamaka Power, Michelle Dede and Chioma Omeruah, popularly known as Chigul, also appearing in the film.
The film features dialogue in Yoruba, English and Igbo, with English subtitles. It is a 2026 feature running at approximately two hours and was produced by Orimogunje alongside Ajah Enene-Orimogunje and Bose Oshin, with Zorana Mušikić, May Odeh and Joshua Alabi as co-producers.
Its Venice recognition has already given the film considerable international attention. The Enrico Fulchignoni jury praised its treatment of migration and the changing Nigerian society, while specifically recognising the performances of its two leads and Orimogunje’s direction.
The film has also moved into its Nigerian release phase, opening in selected cinemas on September 18 ahead of its wider nationwide theatrical release on November 13.
Nigeria’s relationship with the International Feature Film category has been marked by several notable submissions but no nomination to date.
Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart became Nigeria’s first submission for the category for the 92nd Academy Awards. The film was subsequently disqualified because the Academy determined that most of its dialogue was in English.
Desmond Ovbiagele’s The Milkmaid followed as Nigeria’s submission for the 93rd Academy Awards and became the country’s first film to be accepted into the International Feature Film category, although it did not reach the final shortlist.
C.J. Obasi’s Mami Wata represented Nigeria at the 96th Academy Awards, while Amina Abdullahi Sanda’s Hausa-language film Mai Martaba was selected for the 97th Academy Awards. Neither advanced to the final shortlist.
Nigeria then missed the 98th Academy Awards altogether.
Dear Ajayi now gives the country another opportunity to remain in the race. Its Venice awards, international festival exposure and forthcoming theatrical run provide the film with a strong profile as it enters the Academy’s consideration process.
The next significant stage will be the Academy’s shortlist announcement, scheduled for December 15, 2026, followed by Oscar nominations on January 21, 2027. The 99th Academy Awards will take place on March 14, 2027.
