Nigeria’s first Cannes Official selection has faltered at the first major step to Oscars glory. My Father’s Shadow, the acclaimed film from Akinola Davies Jnr, which received a Camera d’Or special mention at the French festival, was not among the 10 projects shortlisted by the Academy for the Best International Feature Film category, ahead of the 2026 Oscars.
It had been selected by the UK as its entry for the category, given the film’s UK-Nigeria co-production status.
In a rather interesting turn of events, Iraq’s The President’s Cake, which won the Camera d’Or category at Cannes, is among the 10 projects that would be competing for the Oscars next year.
This news means that the sole African representative at the 2026 Oscars would be Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, thereby also securing a high-profile festival selection. Kaouther Ben Hania’s film is based on a real-life story about the death of a Palestinian girl in Gaza and won the second prize at the prestigious Italian festival.
As is the case with “Father’s Shadow”, “Hind Rajab” is also a coproduction: between Tunisia and France. Both films were Africa’s frontrunners for the International category contest next year.
The 2026 Oscars would mark Hania’s third time competing at the Oscars, following a Best International Feature Film nomination at the 2021 Oscars and a Best Documentary Feature nod at the 2024 Oscars ceremony. Should she get third time lucky, it would be the first time since the 2006 ceremony that an African project has won the Best International Feature Film Oscar. That award was won by South Africa’s Tsotsi, a film directed by Gavin Hood, who went on to work on several Hollywood projects, including 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
