Vanessa Obioha
The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) has announced it will not be submitting a film for consideration in the 2026 Academy Awards’ International Feature Film (IFF) category.
“While Nigerian films have no doubt shown significant improvement and growing awareness of IFF standards, there is still a deficit in creative and technical intentionality that will improve their competitive potential for global awards,” said NOSC Chairperson Stephanie Linus in a statement.
The International Feature Film award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains at least 50 per cent non-English dialogue.
NOSC opened a call for entries last August. However, the committee said it received six submissions, and on September 26, a majority vote favoured “No Submission,” bringing the process to a close.
Linus has also communicated the committee’s decision to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). She expressed regret that no Nigerian film was deemed suitable for the category this year.
“This is why the NOSC will be taking more proactive steps to encourage filmmakers to create with the Oscars in mind,” Linus stated.
She encouraged Nigerian filmmakers to study previous IFF-nominated works to deepen their understanding of the category’s expectations and strengthen future submissions.
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