On Monday, the Nigerian Official Selection Committee(NOSC) announced that Nigeria will not be submitting an entry for the 2026 Academy Awards’ International Feature Film prize.

This development was contained in a press statement issued by the Committee Chairperson, Stephanie Linus, and made available to the media in Abuja.

According to the statement, six films were submitted after the call for entries in August, but a vote on September 26 ended with a majority opting for “No submission.”

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“While Nigerian films have no doubt shown significant improvement and growing awareness of IFF standards, there is still a deficit in creative and technical intentionality that will improve their competitive potential for global awards,” Linus said.

Speaking further, she added that the decision has already been communicated to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, adding that the committee regrets that no entry met the bar this year.

Looking ahead, Linus assured that the NOSC will step up efforts to guide filmmakers against the next submission.

“We will be taking more proactive steps to encourage filmmakers to create with the Oscars in mind,” she explained, urging directors and producers to study previous IFF-nominated works.

The International Feature Film category recognises feature-length movies made outside the U.S., with at least half of the dialogue in a non-English language.