Thursday, November 5, 2020

Nigeria: #Nollywood, #Kannywood and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film


N
igeria: #Nollywood, #Kannywood and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

It would be good to finally see a great Nigerian film qualify for the nominations of the highly esteemed prestigious Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly called Best Foreign Language Film before 2020) of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It would be a historical milestone in the history of Nollywood, Kannywood and filmmaking in Nigeria. But it is good to make sure that Nigerian filmmakers have produced films that can qualify in content and context of the criteria for the qualification for the Best International Feature category.  

It is best to use the qualifications for the major international film festivals for the evaluations of the standards for the submission of the best Nigerian film. To me, only a Nigerian film that qualified for the Official Selections of the following film festivals should be submitted as Nigeria's entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature:

1. Cannes Film Festival @festivaldecannes 

2. Venice International Film Festival @labiennale 

3. Toronto International Film Festival @tiff_net 

4. Berlin International Film Festival @berlinale 

5. International Film Festival Rotterdam @iffr 

6. Sundance Film Festival @sundanceorg and

7. Durban International Film Festival @durbaninternationalfilmfest .

Any Nigerian film that has failed to qualify for any of the above highly rated international film festivals should not be submitted to The Academy Awards for consideration for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film competition. Because if a Nigerian film cannot qualify for the Official Selection of Cannes, Venice or Toronto, how can it qualify for the #Oscars?

We must have a benchmark for the selection of any Nigerian film in Pidgin English, Igbo or any other native Nigerian language for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.


- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima



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