Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji, has hit back at the Academy over its disqualification of her directorial debut movie, Lionheart, from the Oscar 2020 race in the Best International Feature Film category.
The Academy announced the disqualification of the movie to voters in the category in an email on Monday.
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The Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee said the movie violates its rule that entries in the category must have “a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
Tweeting on Tuesday, Genevieve said the movie represents what the country stands for.
“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.
“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,” she wrote.
Released worldwide on January 4, 2019, after a December 2018 theatrical release in Nigeria, Lionheart tells the story of a young woman, Adaeze Obiagu (Genevieve), who becomes saddled with the responsibility of running her sick father’s business under the suffocating supervision of an uncle, played by Nkem Owoh.
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Adaeze’s competing business instincts and family obligations become a catalyst for drastic change not everyone is ready to embrace.
Lionheart premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was acquired on September 7, 2018, as first Netflix original film produced in Nigeria.
