Desmond Ovbiagele, producer and director of The Milkmaid has reacted after the film failed to make the shortlist of films in the International Feature Film category released by the Oscars on Tuesday.
The Milkmaid which was Nigeria’s official entry for the 2021 Oscar Awards is an 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 proved complicated.
Reacting to the loss in a press release, Ovbiagele admitted that he was proud of what the “Oscar run” meant for the Nigerian film industry,
He added that it was an honour to see the impact his movie has made in the country.
“We are proud of what our Oscar run has meant for our cast and crew, for the Nigerian film industry, and for Nigerians everywhere,” he said.
“We wanted to tell a story that truly reflected the impact and complexities of religious insurgency in Nigeria on those who experience it by force or by choice. Achieving that and being recognized as belonging among the best of the best in international storytelling through film is an incredible honor and we are thrilled that we’ve opened the door for a greater diversity of stories to be told.”
READ ALSO: Challenges of Making ‘The Milkmaid’ in Hausa- Desmond Ovbiagele
eelive had reported how The Milkmaid won five out of eight nominations at the 2020 edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).
The film emerged winner in the ‘Best Film’, ‘Best Film in an African Language’, ‘Achievement in Makeup’, as well as the ‘The National Film And Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Award For Best Nigerian Film’ categories respectively.