Desmond Ovbiagele

Desmond Ovbiagele is a Nigerian filmmaker. He wrote, produced and co-directed his debut feature film, Render to Caesar, which was selected in 2015 to screen in official competition at FESPACO (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), as well as at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles. It also received awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay at the Nollywood Movies Awards and Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards respectively, as well as the award for Best International Feature Film at the Nile Diaspora International Film Festival in Kampala, Uganda. His sophomore feature film, The Milkmaid, which he also wrote, produced and directed, received eight nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in December 2020, winning 5 awards, including for Best Film and Best Supporting Actress. Also in December 2020, The Nigerian Official Selection Committee announced The Milkmaid as the country's official selection for the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature Film, Nigeria's first ever successful submission to the Oscars. At the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, The Milkmaid received the Programmers' Award for Best Narrative Feature. The Milkmaid also received 14 nominations at the 2021 Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, winning 6 awards, including for Best Director and Best Film.