Five Nigerian Nollywood stars have been inducted into the Oscar Academy with automatic voting rights for the next 10 years.
The five Nollywood practitioners who got the honour are veteran actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo, popularly called RMD, filmmakers and producers C.J Obasi, Jade Osiberu, Kunle Afolayan and Shola Dada.
They will now be part of the 398 new members of the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body responsible for the Oscars.
According to the Academy, the Nollywood Nollywood stakeholders were selected having distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.
A statement on the Academy website said that “Membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority.”
“Of the 2023 class, 40% identified as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 76 Oscar® nominees, including 22 winners, among the invitees,” the Academy noted.
The five will join other Nigerians already in the Academy voting list includung Newton Aduaka, Tunde Kelani, Funke Akindele, Daniel K. Daniel, Blessing Egbe, Ramsey Nouah, Mo Abudu, Andrew Dosunmu, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Femi Odugbemi, Akin Omotoso and Genevieve Nnaji.
The Oscar voting rights membership process is by sponsorship as recipients must be sponsored by two Academy members from the branch to which the candidate seeks admission.
Additionally, Academy Award nominees are automatically considered for membership and do not require sponsors while nominees and sponsored candidates are reviewed by branch committees and recommendations for membership are considered by the Academy’s Board of Governors with the Board deciding which individuals will receive invitations.