Milkmaid has been selected as Nigeria’s official entry for the 2021 Oscars, in the International Feature Film category. The film which is currently showing in cinemas nationwide, tells the story of a Fulani milkmaid who confronts extremists in a rural African community. It follows her journey and quest to locate her missing sister, and how efforts to recapture her disrupted past, prove complicated. Last year, Nigeria’s submission “Lionheart” was disqualified for not meeting the non-English language requirement, leading to the controversy on whether or not Nigerian pidgin should not be considered a local language. The 93rd edition of the Academy Awards will be held on April 25, 2021.
According to This Day Live, the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) has announced “The Milkmaid”, a film by Desmond Ovbiagele as the official submission for the 93rd Academy Awards in the International Feature Film (IFF) category of the Oscars.
The committee said it received several entries out of which six films – “Sanitation Day”, “Voiceless”, “Oloture”, “Ibi” (The Birth), “The Milkmaid” and “Eyimofe” – passed the first vetting exercise.
However, “The Milkmaid”, gathered overwhelming majority votes at the last round of screening.
“The Milkmaid”, written and directed by Ovbiagele, is a Hausa language-based thriller on insurgency, especially as it affects women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Inspired by the image on Nigeria’s 10 Naira note, the film 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.