The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) has selected Damilola Orimogunje’s Dear Ajayi as the country’s official submission for the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles.
The selection places the Nigeria-Germany co-production in contention for consideration by the Academy, but it is important to note that Dear Ajayi is not yet an Oscar nominee. The Academy will review eligible submissions before narrowing the category to a 15-film shortlist and eventually five nominees.
Directed and written by Orimogunje, Dear Ajayi is set in southwestern Nigeria in the 1990s and centres on two estranged sisters, Ade and Titi Ajayi, who are forced to reunite to care for their paralysed mother.
Ade, a devout Christian and the family’s breadwinner, struggles to understand Titi, an aspiring singer whose independent spirit challenges the expectations placed on her. Their reunion brings old resentments, grief and conflicting ambitions back to the surface, forcing the sisters to confront the family history that drove them apart.
Bimbo Akintola plays Ade, while Tosin Adeyemi portrays Titi. Lanre Hassan plays their mother, with William Benson, Antar Laniyan, Uzoamaka Power, Michelle Dede and Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah also featuring in the cast.
The film combines Yoruba, English and Igbo dialogue and explores themes of family responsibility, faith, ambition, sacrifice, forgiveness and reconciliation.
For Nigerian audiences, the story also offers something particularly familiar: two women navigating the often complicated relationship between personal ambition and family expectations.
Dear Ajayi previously screened in the competition section of Giornate degli Autori, an independent programme held alongside the 2026 Venice International Film Festival. The film is also scheduled to screen at Film Africa in London on October 30.
Its selection marks Nigeria’s return to the Oscars process after the country did not submit a film for the 98th Academy Awards.
Nigeria has previously submitted films including Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart and Desmond Ovbiagele’s The Milkmaid, but has yet to receive a nomination in the International Feature Film category.
The country’s first entry, Lionheart, was disqualified from the 2020 Oscars because the Academy determined that most of its dialogue was in English. The Milkmaid, submitted for the 93rd Academy Awards, did not make the final 15-film shortlist, while Mai Martaba also failed to advance in the 2025 Oscars race.
Now, Dear Ajayi has another chance to take a Nigerian story to one of the biggest stages in global cinema.
The film still has several hurdles to clear before it can become an Oscar nominee, but for now, Nigeria is officially back in the race. 🎬🇳🇬
