Genevieve Nnaji ‘s movie “Lionheart”, which happens to be Nigeria’s first-ever submission for best international feature Oscar consideration, has been disqualified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for having too much dialogue in English.
Recall that the comedy “Lionheart,” directed and starring Genevieve Nnaji , the famous Julia Roberts of Nigeria — “Lionheart” has earned strong reviews.
But the film, is mostly in English, running afoul of an academy rule that entries in the freshly renamed international feature film category must have “a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
All but roughly 11 minutes of the 95-minute film about a woman trying to keep her father’s company afloat in a male-dominated world are in English.
The movie which is currently streaming on Netflix, was one of 10 African films officially submitted for Oscar consideration this year, a record for the continent. With the disqualification, the number of films in contention for the award has dropped from 93 to 92. The film is still eligible to be considered in other Oscar categories.
Still, the disqualification of “Lionheart” — which, ironically, follows the academy’s decision earlier this year to change the name of the category from best foreign-language film to best international feature film — struck a sour note with at least one high-powered Hollywood figure.
Genevieve, took to Twitter to react after director Ava DuVernay tweeted her dismay, noting that English is the official language of Nigeria.
Genevieve wrote:
“I am the director of Lionheart. This movie represents the way we speak as Nigerians. This includes English which acts as a bridge between the 500+ languages spoken in our country; thereby making us #OneNigeria.