Filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has knocked the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) for the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) over its refusal to submit his latest film Anikulapo for an Oscar consideration.
The committee is responsible for submitting a Nigerian film in the International Feature Film (IFF) category of the Oscar.
Kunle Afolayan expressed his disappointed in a Twitter post on Monday, adding that even though the movie was not submitted, he was “pleased and delighted that the whole world have decided to tagged ANIKULAPO film ‘a masterpiece'”.
He tweeted: “I am so pleased and delighted that the whole world have decided to tagged ANIKULAPO film “a masterpiece “ even though the Nigeria Oscar selection committee think it’s not worth submitting for the Oscars. Will keep making doing my own thing.
Anikulapo is the story of Saro, a travelling clothe weaver, who was beaten to death for having an affair with the Alaafin’s youngest wife.
A mystical bird brings him back to life, leaving behind a gourd with the power to raise the dead.
Set in the 17th-century Oyo Empire, the movie stars actors like Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Taiwo Hassan, Faithia Williams and Adebayo Salami.
Meanwhile filmmaker Mildred Okwo and journalist Shaibu Husseini have resigned from the Oscar committee.
The committee had in September announced that no Nigerian film was eligible to be submitted for the 2023 Oscars.
It is the second year in a row that Nigeria would not submit a film for the IFF category of the Oscars.
The last submission by the committee was The Milkmaid in 2020.
