‘The Milkmaid’: Again, Nigeria’s Oscars hopes shattered

By Adesoba Toluwalope

Nigeria’s hope of taking part in the 93rd Academy Awards has been shattered after the academy released a shortlist of its International Feature Films.

The movie, ‘The Milkmaid’, which was made with the intention of winning an Oscar was declined. This will be the second time a Nigerian movie will be rejected.

Recall that Nigeria’s first-ever Oscar submission for movie ‘Lionheart’ got disqualified by award organizers in November 2019.

The 95-minute film Lionheart was rumoured to have been disqualified because its language was English language. The movie was nominated for Best International Feature.

Director Genevieve Nnaji had argued the disqualification claiming the movie represented how Nigerians communicate i.e. in English and Pidgin English.

Ava Duvernay had reacted also to the disqualification at the time. She tweeted: “To @TheAcademy, you disqualified Nigeria’s first-ever submission for Best International Feature because it’s in English.

“But English is the official language of Nigeria. Are you barring this country from ever competing for an Oscar in its official language?”

The Milkmaid movie directed and produced by Desmond Ovbiagele was selected for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards but didn’t get nominated when the list was released on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

In the award category which celebrates movies outside the United States with predominantly non-English dialogue, Nigeria’s submission ‘The Milkmaid’ was among films eligible to compete.

However, in a shortlist released by the academy on Tuesday February 9, it was gathered that only 15 films from countries such as Tunisia, Romania, Iran, Mexico, Chile, and Norway made it to the next round.

The main ceremony will be on Sunday, April 25, 2021.

Two African films, “Night of the Kings” (Ivory Coast) and “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia) did make the shortlist.

The other 13 films that advanced to the next round of voting from the category are, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’; Chile, ‘The Mole Agent’; Czech Republic, ‘Charlatan’; Denmark, ‘Another Round’; France, ‘Two of Us’; and Guatemala, ‘La Llorona’.

Others are Hong Kong, ‘Better Days’; Iran, ‘Sun Children’; Mexico, ‘I’m No Longer Here’; Norway, ‘Hope’; Romania, ‘Collective’; Russia, ‘Dear Comrades!; and Taiwan, ‘A Sun’.

The movie, ‘The Milkmaid’, which met all requirements was rejected YET AGAIN. The 2019 ‘Lionheart’ was rejected because it was made largely in English language with little use of Pidgin and now, a movie all made in indigenous language has also been rejected.

Nominations voting for the Oscars will officially begin on Friday, March 5 and will close on Wednesday March 10. Nominations for the 93rd Academy Award will be announced on Monday, March 15.

Inspired by the image on Nigeria’s N10 note, the film tells the story of a Fulani milkmaid who came face to face with ferocity when trying to find her missing sister.

Co-founder of baobab global, Liz Grossman Kitoyi, had congratulated the cast and crew after the movie was selected for Oscars.

The movie according to her, “was made with the distinct goal to win an Oscar, following all of the rules laid out by the Academy.”

However, the movie didn’t make the list.