Africa Misses out on Academy IFF Shortlist

Vanessa Obioha

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) during the week announced shortlists in 10 categories for the 94th Academy Awards (aka Oscars) scheduled for next year. The categories include the Best International Feature Film (IFF) which recognises a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains 50 per cent or more of non-English dialogue. Of the 15 films shortlisted in the category, none came from Africa. The list boasts of submissions from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

Nigeria bowed out of the competition in October when the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) for the Academy Awards announced that entries received did not meet the eligibility rules set by the Academy. According to Chairperson of NOSC, Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi, “the films received so far for screening failed the eligibility rule test set by the Academy.”

The announcement dashed the country’s hope for an Oscar for the third time. In 2019, the Academy rejected Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart for not meeting the requirements. Last year however brought a flicker of hope when ‘The Milkmaid’ being ratified by the Executive Committee of the IFF, passed the eligibility rule test before dropping from the first shortlist category.

While Nigeria stayed out of the competition, other African countries such as South Africa submitted films for the category. The country selected ‘Barakat’, an Amy Jephta film in partnership with kykNET, a company owned by MultiChoice for the competition. The film centres on a Muslim widow’s attempt to unite her fractured family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

Other African countries that sent in submissions include Kenya (Mission to Rescue), Malawi (Fatsani: A Tale of Survival), Egypt (Souad) and Tunisia (Golden Butterfly).

For the 94th Academy Awards, Austria, Kosovo, Belgium, Bhutan, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Panama and Spain will go through another nomination round which will begin on Thursday, January 27, 2022, and conclude on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, before the final nomination list is unveiled on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022.