The Milkmaid, a movie directed by Desmond Ovbiagele, has been announced as Nigeria’s official submission for the International Feature Film (IFF) category of the 2021 Oscars.
According to the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) for the IFF category, The Milkmaid bested Sanitation Day, Voiceless, Oloture, Ibi (The Birth) and Eyimofe which all made it to the last six.
Inspired by the image on Nigeria’s 10 Naira note, The Milkmaid is a Hausa language-based thriller on insurgency, especially as it affects women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It tells the story of a Fulani milkmaid who confronts extremists in a rural African community, in a quest to locate her missing sister, and how efforts to recapture her disrupted past prove complicated.
Shot on location in Taraba State, The Milkmaid stars Maryam Booth, Ibrahim Jammal, Anthonieta Kalunta and Gambo Usman Kona among others.
The 93rd edition of the Academy Awards (The Oscars) is scheduled to hold on April 25.
Nigeria’s first-ever official submission for an Oscar Lionheart was disqualified in 2019 for not meeting the non-English dialogue criteria.
