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CJ ‘Fiery’ Obasi film ‘Mami Wata’ has been picked by The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) as its contender for the International Feature Film Category at the 96th Academy Awards.
Obasi confirmed this in a tweet on Monday, October 16, 2023. This makes ‘Mami Wata’ the first Nigerian feature film in three years to make it past the NOSC stage.
“So honoured for Mami Wata to represent Nigeria in the International Features category. Honoured by the NOSC headed by Chairperson Stephanie Linus and grateful to my team,” he tweeted.
Mami Wata is a black-and-white film that tells a story of how the fictional village ‘Iyi’ must challenge its beliefs after a stranger’s death threatens to disrupt its harmony. The film was shot in Benin, Nigeria.
Since the film’s release, it has broken and set new records as it became the first feature film by a Nigeria-based filmmaker to debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023, and it went on to win the Special Jury Award for Cinematography at the film festival.
Every year, The Academy presents the International Feature Films award to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains 50% or more of non-English dialogue. For the past few years, Nigerian films have not met the requirements of this category.
In 2019, the Oscars disqualified Genevieve Nnaji’s ‘Lionheart’ for not meeting the non-English dialogue criteria, as the acts in the film mostly spoke in Pidgin English. In 2020, Desmond Ovbiagele’s The Milkmaid also fell out of the race to the Oscars after it failed to make the first shortlist in the International Feature Film category despite passing the eligibility rule test.
Since then, Nigeria has not submitted a film to the Oscars until ‘Mami Wata.’ The Nigerian Official Section Committee (NOSC) revealed that the film was selected for its “relevant theme – multiple generations of women at the forefront of society’s well-being, its unique approach to a story of pre and post-colonial African societies, as well as its technical and artistic excellence.”
The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States.
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