(Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)
Ava DuVernay has something to say to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The academy apparently disqualified the Nigerian film, ‘Lionheart’ after its submission due to most of the film’s dialogue being in English. The film was looking to be a contender in the Best International Film category.
According to the Academy’s rules, the submissions for the category must be in “a predominantly non-English” language. Ava DuVernay was not happy about the disqualification and took to Twitter to voice her concerns. See the post below.
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
The director of the movie, Genevieve Nnaji also responded via Twitter.
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
