After a week of extension by the Academy, Nigeria’s Oscar selection committee (NOSC) reiterated its position that it will not submit a movie for the Academy’s International Feature Film (IFF) category.
In a leaked video recorded on Thursday, October 20, 2022, the committee voted 9-6 in favour of no submission. The committee has been embroiled in a serious internal conflict following its September voting procedure, in which the majority of its members voted for none of the three films to be eligible.
The final films that passed the three IFF criteria and got to this voting stage were “Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman” by the late Biyi Bandele; Kunle Afolayan’s “Anikulapo” and Euphoria 360 (Femi Adebayo) and Anthills Studio’s (Niyi Akinmolayan) “Agesinkole (King of Thieves).
NOSC in October left out Nollywood films from the entry to represent Nigeria in the 2023 International Feature Film category stating that no film was eligible.
In a statement by Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi, NOSC chairperson said the 15-member committee failed to reach a consensus on three contending titles due to their voting patterns.
“Although the committee received three epic films following its call for submissions in August, it turned out that none of them will advance to the next stage owing to the voting patterns of members.”
The NOSC has been submerged in a heated dispute over its decision to not submit an entry for the international feature film (IFF) category of the 2023 Oscars leading to resignations of some of NOSC’s members. Shaibu Husseini, a journalist, Kenneth Gyang, and Mildred Okwo, both filmmakers, announced their resignations from the association as the Oscar fracas continue to persist.
NOSC’s requirement for a film to be eligible for International feature film (IFF) awards submission.
1.The country-selected film must be first released in the country of origin no earlier than January 1, 2022, and no later than November 30, 2022, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre for the profit of the producer and exhibitor. Submissions must be in 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels, source image format conforming to ST 428-1:2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000); and image and sound files packaged as Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs) in the “SMPTE DCP” format. SMPTE DCP refers to SMPTE ST 429- 2:2020 D-Cinema Packaging – DCP Operational Constraints and related specifications. (Blu-ray format does not meet Digital Cinema )
The audio in a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is typically 5.1 or 7.1 channels of discrete audio. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Center, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). In addition to channel-based audio, object-based audio may also be present as an immersive audio bitstream.
The discrete audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE ST 429-3:2007 D-Cinema Packaging – Sound and Picture Track File, SMPTE ST 428-2:2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Characteristics and SMPTE ST 428-12:2013 D-Cinema Distribution Master Common Audio
Read also: Anikulapo gets lifeline as Oscars grants Nigerian committee a week to present movie
Channels and Soundfield Groups. Immersive audio, if present, shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE ST 2098-2:2019 Immersive Audio Bitstream Specification and SMPTE 429-18:2019 D- Cinema Packaging – Immersive Audio Track File and packaged in conformance with SMPTE 429- 19:2019 D-Cinema Packaging – DCP Operational Constraints for Immersive Audio.
2.The film must be advertised and exploited during its qualifying theatrical release in a manner considered normal and customary to theatrical feature distribution The film need not have been released in the United States.
3. Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Non Theatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to:
Broadcast and cable television
PPV/VOD
DVD distribution
Inflight airline distribution
Internet transmission
4. The recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly (more than 50%) in a language or languages other than English. Accurate, legible english- language subtitles are
5. The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens or residents of the submitting
6. Should a selection committee not disclose up-to-date and/or accurate information related to a submitted film’s citizenship, business-related affiliation or credit on a selected film, designated credits, production details and release information, a film will be deemed
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
