Nigeria has selected Dear Ajayi as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) announced the selection after reviewing films submitted for consideration, giving the period drama an opportunity to represent Nigeria in the next stage of the Oscars race.
However, the selection does not guarantee that Dear Ajayi will receive an Oscar nomination, as the film must first go through the Academy’s subsequent selection process.
Written, directed and produced by Damilola Orimogunje, Dear Ajayi is a period drama set in southwestern Nigeria in the 1990s.
The film follows two sisters, Ade and Titi Ajayi, whose lives take different paths before circumstances bring them together when their ailing mother moves in with them.
As they deal with their mother’s condition, the sisters are forced to confront grief, faith, ambition and family expectations. Their strained relationship is further tested as old resentments resurface and they begin to reconsider the choices that shaped their lives.
NOSC Chairperson Stephanie Linus congratulated the filmmakers on the selection and expressed confidence in the film’s next stage of consideration.
“We congratulate the filmmakers behind Dear Ajayi on their selection,” Linus said.
She added that the committee looks forward to presenting the film to the Academy and wished the production team success as it progresses through the Oscars process.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will consider Dear Ajayi alongside submissions from other countries in the Best International Feature Film category.
The Academy will subsequently announce the films that make the final shortlist before the eventual Oscar nominees are revealed.
The category recognises films produced outside the United States and provides a platform for filmmakers from around the world to showcase stories and perspectives from their respective countries.
For Dear Ajayi, the selection provides an opportunity to bring its story of family, identity and life in 1990s southwestern Nigeria to an international audience.
