Florence Uwaeme
A few weeks ago, there was great jubilation when the news broke that Genevieve’s directional debut, ‘LionHeart’ was Nigeria’s first-ever 0SCAR submission for The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Just last night, the not so good news of its disqualification hit Nigeria’s social media space and as is expected, Nigerians reacted to the disappointment.
According to the Academy, ‘LionHeart’ was disqualified because it has too much English dialogue in it. According to Academy, OSCAR entry rules for the “International Feature Film” award category, much of the language must be non-English.
Responding to this, Genevieve twitted “…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 plus languages spoken in our country…It is no different from 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.”
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Many people were unhappy with the Academy’s disqualification of ‘LionHeart’. They took to their social media handles to tender their displeasure. Here are some of the reactions.
“You just disqualified Nigeria’s first-ever submission for the Best International Feature because it’s in English? But English is Nigeria’s official language. Are you barring a country from ever competing for an OSCAR in its official language?”
“It’s okay if you disqualify a movie because the story-line isn’t content enough, or the picture quality, or the sound. But why penalize because the movie is in English, the country’s official language?”
“The disqualification of the film was valid. Always educate yourself on subjects before being in your feelings and getting all sentimental. That category is majorly non-English dialogue films.”
“Lionheart disqualified from the Oscars for English? How long before we realize our official language is foreign? When shall we go back to being African?”
“Since a decade ago, Oscar stopped movies in that category made predominantly in English language just like Lionheart. An Israeli movie ‘The Band’ was disqualified for the same reason.”
“Dear @TheAcademy, your criteria is valid, but so is our reality. Filmmakers don’t make films for awards; we make film for our audience.”
“I’m sure if ‘Lionheart’ was scripted completely in Igbo with English subtitles, it wouldn’t have even been recognized. But Genevieve decided, in all magnanimity to create an inclusive movie that can appeal to a wider audience, yet, Nigerians shouldn’t speak so much English.”
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