The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) has selected Damilola Orimogunje's Dear Ajayi as Nigeria's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. This decision was made after reviewing films submitted during the committee's month-long call for entries, which ran from 1 to 31 August. The selection places Dear Ajayi in contention for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the 99th Oscars, scheduled for 14 March 2027 in Los Angeles.
Dear Ajayi is a Nigeria-Germany co-production set in southwestern Nigeria in the 1990s. The family drama follows Ade and Titi Ajayi, two estranged sisters forced to live together and care for their paralysed mother. The film combines Yoruba, English, and Igbo dialogue and explores family responsibility, faith, ambition, sacrifice, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Its cast includes Bimbo Akintola, Tosin Adeyemi, and Lanre Hassan.
NOSC Chairperson Stephanie Linus congratulated the filmmakers and expressed the committee's support as the production entered the next stage. The selection marks Nigeria's return to the Oscars process after the country failed to submit a film for the 98th Academy Awards. In 2025, the NOSC review committee said none of the entries it considered demonstrated the required level of "creative and technical intentionality."
The film featured in the competition section of the 2026 Giornate degli Autori, an independent programme held alongside the Venice International Film Festival. It is also scheduled to screen at Film Africa in London on 30 October. Under the Academy's rules, an international feature must run for more than 40 minutes, be produced outside the United States and contain more than 50 per cent non-English dialogue.
For the 99th Academy Awards, the Academy introduced an additional qualification route for international feature films. Under the new rule, a film not submitted through its country's selection committee or that does not meet the normal theatrical-release requirement may still qualify independently by winning a designated award at an approved international film festival.
Nigeria has not received a nomination in the Best International Feature Film category. Its first entry, Genevieve Nnaji's Lionheart, was disqualified from the 2020 Oscars because the Academy determined that most of its dialogue was in English. Desmond Ovbiagele's The Milkmaid was accepted as Nigeria's entry for the 93rd Academy Awards but did not progress to the 15-film shortlist.
The NOSC is recognised by the Academy as the body responsible for choosing Nigeria's official entry in the International Feature Film category. Each year, a country or region can submit only one film through its Academy-approved selection committee. The Academy will assess Dear Ajayi's eligibility alongside submissions from other countries before voting determines the 15-film shortlist and, subsequently, the five nominees.
Key points
- Nigeria submits Dear Ajayi for Best International Feature Film category at 99th Academy Awards
- Dear Ajayi is a Nigeria-Germany co-production exploring family responsibility, faith, and reconciliation
- The film must meet eligibility requirements, including a commercial cinema run and non-English dialogue, to be considered for a nomination
