Nigeria's entry for the international feature film Oscar category was disqualified on Monday because it contains too much English dialogue, leading to backlash from its filmmaker, Nigerian actor-director Genevieve Nnaji, as well as from fellow helmer Ava DuVernay.is Nigeria's first-ever submission to the Academy Awards. Nnaji stars alongside Peter Edochie and Nkem Owoh in the film, which she also co-wrote with her producing partner Chinny Onwugbenu.
The Academy responded to its critics in a statement on Tuesday: "In April 2019, we announced the name of the Foreign Language Film category changed to International Feature Film. We also confirmed that the rules for the category would not change. The intent of the award remains the same — to recognize accomplishment in films created outside of the United States in languages other than English.
The Academy's rules currently state that "an international film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track."has just under 12 minutes of dialogue that is in the Igbo language native to Southeastern Nigeria, while the rest of the 94-minute pic is in English. The film is not excluded from entering other Oscar categories, including consideration for best picture.
The decision was criticized by Nnaji, who said on Twitter, "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." She added, "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.
DuVernay also slammed the decision in a tweet, saying "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.
ava The Academy is REALLY showing it's old age. Get with it folks and STOP the double standards!!!!
ava TheAcademy and their voters are a joke. If you really love the art of cinema, stop giving relevance to the Oscars. Hollyweird
ava The Oscar committee is out of touch and ignorant. They get caught up in rules so much they can’t let common sense prevail.
ava The same way ther bar UK & Australian films for the same reason in that category, yes
ava Um, yes. That's kind of the rule, and it makes sense if you expect Americans to watch it.
ava Try again.😊✍️
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