The crisis rocking the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) for the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has continued to spiral as some members are calling on the committee’s chairman Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi to reconsider the decision not to submit a Nigerian film for the 2023 Oscars.
The 15-member NOSC is responsible for submitting a Nigerian film in the International Feature Film (IFF) category of the Oscars.
Biyi Bandele’s Eleshin Oba: The King’s Horseman, Kunle Afolayan’s Anikulapo and Femi Adebayo’s King of Thieves were rejected by some members of the committee after making it to the final of the selection process.
Qed.ng learnt that the decision not to submit a film divided members of the committee.
A source told our correspondent that some members wrote to the Academy without going through Anyaene-Abonyi who is the head of the committee.
The crisis has seen two members resign from the committee.
Qed.ng also learnt that the Academy has advised members of NOSC to resolve their internal crisis according to their rules.
Our correspondent also gathered that some members of NOSC have confessed they cannot defend the decision not to submit a film, especially with Nigerian films doing well on various distribution platforms.
“The committee’s job is not to determine the film that will win an Oscar but to submit one that meets the criteria.
“Getting a title mention alongside other countries that have films submitted for the Oscars – even if we do not win – would have been good for the Nigerian film industry,” the source said.
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.
