Close Menu
Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Sunday, May 11
    • About us
      • Authors
    • Contact us
    • Privacy policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Newsletter
    • Post a Job
    • Partners
    Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube WhatsApp
    Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business
    • Home
    • Innovation
      • Products
      • Technology
      • Internet of Things
    • Business
      • Agritech
      • Fintech
      • Healthtech
      • Investments
        • Cryptocurrency
      • People
      • Startups
      • Women In Tech
    • Media
      • Entertainment
      • Gaming
    • Reviews
      • Gadgets
      • Apps
      • How To
    • Giveaways
    • Jobs
    Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business
    You are at:Home»Entertainment»Academy Awards Rejects ‘Lionheart’ For Having Predominantly English Dialogue
    Lionheart

    Academy Awards Rejects ‘Lionheart’ For Having Predominantly English Dialogue

    0
    By AdeO on November 5, 2019 Entertainment, Film

    Lionheart, Nigeria’s first-ever submission for the Best International Feature Film Award has been disqualified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for having predominantly English dialogue.

    Directed by and starring Genevieve Nnaji “Lionheart”, the film, which is currently streaming on Netflix, 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.

    “Lionheart” 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.

    The academy’s decision was communicated via email to Oscar voters.

    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.

    “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?”

    The disqualification of Lionheart has attracted quite a number of reactions including Ava DuVernay who tweeted:

    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

    Responding to the Oscars and at the same time replying to Ava’s tweet, Genevieve Nnaji tweeted:

    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

    What does the Academy say about being nominated for Best International Feature Film

    Note that Lionheart was not disqualified because it is a bad movie. No, it is because it has too much dialogue. To give a clearer picture, what does the Oscar Academy say?

    “The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”

    Here are some of the reactions to Lionheart:

    Something about this doesn't seem fair. The film was disqualified because it's mostly in English. Meanwhile, the official language of Nigeria is….English. https://t.co/oKOIQpBRRV

    — Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) November 4, 2019

    Lionheart disqualification is not ill conceived, before we cry blue murder about it.
    Note, that's the rule of the category.

    Two movies were previously disqualified for the same reason(having too much english in it).

    Still, Genevieve did an awesome job with Lionheart.

    — Chika of Ebonyi (@MistaChika) November 5, 2019


    https://twitter.com/9gerianStallion/status/1191666556029325312

    Should it have been scripted mainly in Igbo and Hausa, and other tribes begin to read subtitles created. It was not filmed for them, it was filmed for us.

    We really should move on. Nigeria had produced captivating movies over the years and #Lionheart is another one.

    — Emkay (@Emkayimagery) November 5, 2019

    Related

    Netflix
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email
    AdeO
    • X (Twitter)

    Related Posts

    Trump’s 100% Tariff on Nollywood and Foreign Films

    How Peller and Jarvis Used Social Media to Achieve Fame

    Netflix is Testing a New OpenAI-Powered Search

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Copyright ©, 2013-2024 Innovation-Village.com. All Rights Reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.