Damilola Orimogunje’s drama “Dear Ajayi” has been selected as Nigeria’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, scheduled for March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles.
Nigeria’s selection was announced by the Nigerian Official Selection Committee, the Academy-approved body responsible for choosing the country’s entry for the category, following its national call for submissions held from August 1 to 31, 2026.
The selection marks Nigeria’s return to the category after the country did not submit a film for the 98th Academy Awards. The committee had determined that none of the films submitted for that edition met its selection standard.
Written and directed by Damilola Orimogunje, “Dear Ajayi” is a Nigeria-Germany production set in southwestern Nigeria in the 1990s. The drama follows estranged sisters Ade and Titi, who are forced to live together while caring for their paralysed mother.
Bimbo Akintola, Tosin Adeyemi and Lanre Hassan lead the cast, while the film was produced by Nigeria’s 2o9ine Films, Depth and Optics Productions and Zynox Productions, alongside Germany’s Mayana Films.
“Dear Ajayi” previously competed in September 2026 at Giornate degli Autori, the independent film programme held during the Venice International Film Festival in Italy. The film won the programme’s Enrico Fulchignoni Prize and the Bisato d’Oro award for its cast and performances.
The film now enters the Academy’s international feature selection process, where it will compete against submissions from other countries for a place on the 15-film shortlist. The shortlist is scheduled to be announced on December 15, 2026, with the five final nominees to be revealed on January 21, 2027.
Damilola Orimogunje is a Nigerian screenwriter, film director and producer whose work has focused on intimate, character-driven stories about family, identity, grief and everyday Nigerian life.
His debut feature, For Maria Ebun Pataki (2020), premiered at Film Africa in London, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film, which explores a woman’s struggle with postpartum depression and the pressures surrounding motherhood, subsequently received six African Movie Academy Award nominations.
