The Oscars committees in Nigeria and Kenya are currently accepting films ahead of the 2025 Academy Awards. Selected films will be in the running for Best International Feature Film. Nigeria’s window of submissions closes on August 30; Kenya’s closes on September 6.
Both committees would be hoping for a change in fortune, as the category was last won by an African film in 2005. That was South Africa’s Tsotsi, a film directed by Gavin Hood. Since that film’s triumph in 2006, the continent has yet to see a film go all the way.
For Nigeria and Kenya, the 2025 Oscars ceremony is yet another opportunity. So far, films from both countries have barely made it past their national committees. This is particularly the case for Nigeria, a situation that has spurred some controversy within the country.
Nigeria has also generated some controversy outside its borders, notably with regards to the use of English in the Genevieve Nnaji’s helmed picture, Lionheart. In 2019, after social media erupted because of the film’s disqualification, the Academy put out a statement. “As this year’s submitted films were evaluated,” the statement read, “we discovered that ‘Lionheart’ includes only 11 minutes of non-English dialogue, which makes it ineligible for this award category”.
Kenya has had a longer history with the Academy, having first submitted a film back in 2012, seven years before Nigeria sent in its first selection. But the East African country, too, is yet to scale the two-step nomination process. In its current form, the first stage produces a shortlist of 15; the second yields the final five nominees.
Ahead of next year, both countries are seeking films released “no earlier than November 1, 2023, and no later than September 30, 2024”. Eligible films must have “a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track”, according to the Nigeria Official Selection Committee.
Last year, Nigeria submitted Mami Wata, a black and white film in pidgin English by director CJ Obasi. Kenya chose Daudi Anguka’s Mvera, a film in Swahili. Ultimately, the Academy looked elsewhere.
Holocaust picture The Zone Of Interest won the category. Although by English director Jonathan Glazer, its characters spoke German, Yiddish, and Polish.
For more information on the Nigeria Official Selection Committee and the Kenyan Oscars Selection Committee Kenya, see here and here.
