‘Mami Wata’ advances in the Oscars race having received the highest votes from the 14-man committee.

Nigeria has selected the Sundance Festival award-winning film “Mami Wata” as a contender for the 96th Academy Awards’ International Feature Film (IFF) category.

The IFF (formerly Best Foreign Language) Award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length film produced outside the United States that contains 50 per cent or more non-English dialogue.

Written and directed by C.J. Obasi, the film is an exploration and creative reimagination of the mythology of a titular mermaid-deity of West African folklore, and one which, among other things, celebrates womanhood.

The Nigerian Official Section Committee (NOSC) for the IFF said it selected the film for its “relevant theme – multiple generations of women at the forefront of society’s well-being, its unique approach to a story of pre and post-colonial African societies, as well as its technical and artistic excellence.”

The NOSC voting members include Stepanie Linus – award-winning actress and Chairperson of NOSC; Chidia Maduekwe – M.D Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC); Victor Okhai – President of Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN); Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde – veteran actress; Andy Amenechi – former President of DGN; Yibo Koko – theatre practitioner; and Izu Ojukwu – writer/director.

Others are Adetokunbo ‘DJ Tee’ Odubawo – Cinematographer; Emem Isong – writer/producer; Dimeji Ajibola – director; Jude Idada – writer/director; Ngozi Okafor – producer/costumier; John Njamah – actor/director; and Meg Otanwa – actress/polyglot.