Mami Wata is Nigeria’s Official Submission for the 96th Oscars
Obasi’s African fantasy movie has made the official selection after a voting process by the NOSC
Mami Wata is Nigeria’s submission for the 96th Oscars
The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC), after a thorough evaluation of Nigerian films considered for submission to the 96th Oscars, has officially selected CJ Obasi’s “Mami Wata” as Nigeria’s submission for the “Best International Feature Film” Category.
The Nigerian Official Selection Committee, comprising of 14 members, are charged with the duty of determining the Nigerian movie that gets to be submitted and in most cases, represented at International film awards and festivals. Mami Wata movie was said to have received the highest number of votes among the Nigerian Official Selection Committee, hence, its automatic qualification for submission.
It will be submitted for an Oscar nomination consideration first, in the “Best International Feature Film” category at the 96th Oscars, if it meets the rules of the Academy’s nomination, it will receive an official nomination and compete with other foreign films.
Obasi’s Mami Wata was also the winner of the 2023 World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award in Cinematography, at the 2023 Sundance film Festival
This year, it appears CJ Obasi’s “Mami Wata” has been considered Nigeria’s best shot at a nomination. The reason for this might have been because of its African-themed folklore plot that would appeal more to the rules of getting a nomination for the International feature film category at the Oscars.
Recall that, Genevieve Nnaji’s “Lionheart” was Nigeria’s first submission to the Oscars- the 92nd Oscars, but was disqualified from the nomination because most of the dialogue was in English Language. Hopefully, Obasi’s Mami Wata will make the list of nominated films for the 96th Oscars.
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About Mami Wata Movie
Based on West African tradition, Mami Wata is a 2023 fantasy film from C.J. “Fiery” Obasi that is set in Nigeria and is rendered in black and white. The movie made its debut at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, becoming Obasi’s third feature-length debut at the festival.
In 2016, Obasi came up with the idea for Mami Wata and started working on it.
He wrote several drafts of the script and then participated in several laboratories to help polish it. Obasi said in a CNN interview that he “wanted to make a hyper-stylized film” with a substance-driven approach, drawing inspiration from directors he admires like David Lynch and Akira Kurosawa.
Mami Wata is associated with production businesses such as Guguru Studios, Palmwine Media, Swiss Fund Visions Sud Est, Ifind Pictures of France, and Obasi’s Fiery Film Company.
Principal photography concluded in January 2021, having been conducted on location in rural Benin settlements.
Lílis Soares, the film’s cinematographer, took home the Special Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
Additionally, it won three FESPACO awards: the Meilleur Décor (Set Design Award), the Meilleure Image (Cinematography Award), and the Prix de la Critique Paulin S. Vieyra (African Critics Award).
For distribution throughout North America, Dekanalog purchased it.
Based on 29 reviews, the movie has a 100% approval rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes
It’s a “dynamic study in color with a vivid narrative,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.In According to IndieWire, “Mami Wata is a work of art, from its opening title design to the last notes of Tunde Jegede’s score. The extra time spent developing the film pays off on screen.”
