Genevieve Reacts As Hollywood Director Slams Oscars For Disqualifying Lionheart

This isn’t the first time the academy has disqualified a foreign film from consideration for having too much English dialogue; in recent years, the 2015 Afghan film “Utopia” and the 2007 Israeli movie “The Band’s Visit” were disqualified for the same reason.

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. Director Ava DuVernay tweeted her dismay, noting that English is the official language of Nigeria.

To @TheAcademy, You disqualified Nigeria’s first-ever submission for Best International Feature because its in English. But English is the official language of Nigeria. Are you barring this country from ever competing for an Oscar in its official language? https://t.co/X3EGb01tPF

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) November 4, 2019

For her part, Nnaji tweeted in response to the academy’s decision that her movie “represents the way we speak as Nigerians. This includes English, which acts as a bridge between the 500+ languages spoken in our country. ... We did not choose who colonized us. As ever, this film and many like it, is proudly Nigerian.”

In fact, English is the official language of a number of African countries, including Botswana, Ghana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. (One country where English is not the official language, by the way, is the United States of America, which has no official language.)

1/1 1/2 Thank you so much @ava❤️.
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. @TheAcademy https://t.co/LMfWDDNV3e

— Genevieve Nnaji MFR (@GenevieveNnaji1) November 4, 2019

2/2 It’s no different to how French connects communities in former French colonies. We did not choose who colonized us. As ever, this film and many like it, is proudly Nigerian. @TheAcademy https://t.co/LMfWDDNV3e

— Genevieve Nnaji MFR (@GenevieveNnaji1) November 4, 2019

To many longtime Oscar watchers, the “Lionheart” decision — which comes in the midst of an ongoing push by the academy in recent years to bring in more members from overseas — may further highlight what some already see as overly arbitrary and sometimes perplexing rules governing eligibility in the international category.

Until a rule change in 2006, for example, films had to be in the official language of the country that submitted them, a requirement that barred the 2004 Italian movie “Private” from consideration because it was mainly in Arabic and Hebrew. Conversely, non-English-language films “Apocalypto” and “Letters From Iwo Jima” were ineligible to compete in the foreign-language category because they were produced in America, despite the fact that both films were nominated for Golden Globes for best foreign-language film.

And if all that is not confusing enough, despite the academy’s ostensible language requirement, in 1983 a completely dialogue-free film, the Algerian dance film “Le Bal,” earned a nomination in the foreign-language film category.