Kenya has selected One Woman One Bra as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
Sinema Focus can exclusively reveal that the film was selected from three submissions: One Woman One Bra, Bea Wangondu and Andrew H. Brown’s Sundance-premiered documentary Kikuyu Land and Reuben Odanga’s music-driven drama Tides.
The decision by the Kenya Oscars Selection Committee was unanimous, the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) told Sinema Focus, with all members agreeing that it was the strongest of the three films to represent Kenya at the 99th Academy Awards. “There was no pushback during the selection,” the Commission said.
According to the official announcement, the committee considered films that met the Academy’s technical requirements, including the requirement that more than 50% of the dialogue be in a language or languages other than English. The committee was also looking for originality, authenticity and a “cinematic language rooted in the Kenyan experience” that was also “capable of captivating international audiences.”
In selecting One Woman One Bra, the committee highlighted the film’s depiction of Maasai life, originality, performances, pacing, landscape, sound design and costumes. “This film is a testament to the power of authentic storytelling, originating from the heart of the Maasai community,” committee chairperson Eddah Kiruhi said in the announcement.
Kiruhi added that the film’s “originality, the raw authenticity of its performances, its captivating visual and sonic elements, and its purposeful narrative” informed the committee’s assessment. “We believe it will resonate deeply with Academy voters and audiences worldwide,” she said.
The nine-member Kenya Oscars Selection Committee is chaired by Kiruhi, representing the Kenya Film and Television Professionals Association (KFTPA). Other members are Lydiah Gitachu of the Kenya Actors Guild; Linda Karuru of the Producers Guild of Kenya; Elly Gitau of the East African Journalists in Arts and Culture Association; Cosmas Bii of Eldoret Film Festival; Elias Nabutete of the Kenya Scriptwriters Guild; Joy Nduto of the Distributors Guild of Kenya; Mwaniki Njache of KFTPA; and Joseph Mbuchi of the Jambowood Film Producers Association.
One Woman One Bra, a Kenya-Nigeria co-production, is directed by Kenya’s Vincho Nchogu and produced by Nigeria’s Josh Olaoluwa. Set in Loita among the Maasai community, it follows a woman in search of her identity and kinship to secure her home.
The film premiered at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival as part of Biennale College Cinema and has since screened at other international festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival, where it won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature.
At the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, lead actress Sarah Karei received a Special Jury Mention in the Viewpoints competition, while the film also won the Audience Award. At the Festival de Cine Africano de Tarifa (FCAT), it won the ACERCA Award for Spanish Cooperation. Most recently, in August, it won the Discovery Excellence Award at the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival in South Korea.
One Woman One Bra had its Kenyan premiere on 10 September, followed by a seven-day Oscar-qualifying theatrical run from 11–17 September. It’s also part of the lineup at the 2026 NBO Film Festival, running from 15–25 October.
The film marks Kenya’s tenth submission to the Oscars since the country’s first entry in 2012 with Tosh Gitonga’s Nairobi Half Life. No Kenyan film having been nominated or shortlisted to date. In 2025, Kenya did not select a film for the Oscars for the first time in eight years, after the selection committee determined that none of the five submissions met the requirements for consideration.
Also announced on 23 September was Algeria’s submission, Roqia, directed by Yanis Koussim. Kenya and Algeria join Morocco with Laïla Marrakchi’s Strawberries (La más dulce), Cameroon with Kang Quintus’ Mabanda, Chad with Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars (Soumsoum, la nuit des astres) and Egypt with Abu Bakr Shawky’s The Stories as the African countries that have so far submitted films for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Oscars.
The submission deadline is 30 September 2026, with the awards ceremony scheduled for 14 March 2027.
Source: sinemafocus.com