Nigerians knock Oscar Academy over disqualification of Lionheart

Genevieve Nnaji Lionheart

Nigerians have begun criticising the Academy over its disqualification of Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut movie, Lionheart, from the Oscar 2020 race in the Best International Feature Film category.

The Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee, announcing on Monday, said the movie violates its rule that entries in the category must have “a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”

Nigerians on Twitter have accused the Academy of discrimination, saying that the movie set predominantly in English as the country’s official language should be given a pass especially as there are over 250 languages and cultures in the country.