The Nigerian movie Industry aka NOLLYWOOD which is Africa’s biggest movie industry has been denied it’s ever feature at the Oscar Awards. Actress and director Genevieve Nnaji’s movie Lionheart (which she directed and the main character in it) made history in January 2019 as being the first Netflix original movie to be produced in Nigeria almost instantly putting the movie to the limelight.
Lionheart, which made its debut at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, was selected for the Best International Feature Film category for the upcoming Oscar’s Award in 2020, making it the first Nigerian movie to be submitted in this category. However, on November 4, 2019, Lionheart was disqualified as the majority of the film’s dialogue is in English. According to the rules by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
an international film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (defined as over 40 minutes) produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
Lionheart is reportedly 95 minutes in English and only 12 minutes in Igbo and hence, doesn’t meet the criteria for qualification.
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GENEVIEVE NNAJI’S REACTION
The disqualification provoked reactions from the director and she took to her Twitter to voice out her dissatisfaction of the decision. Many reacted in support of her and left words of encouragement. Some eluded to the fact that the disqualification might be prejudice since the movie was “African”. Here is what she and others had to say from the tweets we read.
To start off, filmmaker Ava DuVernay criticized the Oscars on Twitter to which Genevieve Nnaji responded to:
The front runners in the Best International Feature Film category include South Korea’s “Parasite”, Spain’s “Pain and Glory” and France’s “Les Miserables.” Many think the Oscar’s criteria for selection is not the best and feel it’s biased. This was supposed to be Nigeria’s first ever feature in this award and you can understand their frustrations. What are your thoughts about the Oscar’s criteria for selecting films for Best International Feature? Let’s hear what you have to say
ABOUT THE OSCAR AWARDS
The Oscar Awards also know as The Academy Awards, is a prestigious international forum, that awards outstanding film/movie makers that started in 1929 and is set for it’s 92nd award ceremony. The award is scheduled for February 10, 2020 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California.
