The Academy has disqualified the Nigerian film "Lionheart" from an
Oscars category for including "too much English."  

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Tell the Academy to restore the International Feature Film nomination
for "Lionheart."
  

[ [link removed] ]Take Action
John,

Recently, Nigerian film “Lionheart” was nominated for the Best
International Feature Oscar. Immediately following this milestone, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disqualified the film from the
category because the film has “too much English.” This decision is
ridiculous. Because of British colonization, English is now the national
language of Nigeria. To disqualify the film because of a refusal to
understand Black and African experience is immoral and ahistorical. The
Academy is using this reasoning as a way to continue to keep Black stories
out of Hollywood spaces. [ [link removed] ]Tell the Academy to add “Lionheart” back into
the International Feature Film nominations!  

As with many aspects of Hollywood industry, the Academy’s decision to
eliminate “Lionheart” from the International Feature Film category
demonstrates a clear failure to understand Black and African history.
Amidst the 500+ languages spoken in Nigeria, English is the country’s
official language. This is the result of a long history of colonialism
between European countries and Nigeria. It is unreasonable that the
Academy would then use the film’s English dialogue — the nation’s official
language — as a reason to eliminate it from an Oscars category that the
film deserves. 

[ [link removed] ]Tell the Academy to reverse their decision and add "Lionheart" back
into the International Feature Film category.  

And this isn’t the first time the Academy has eliminated a film from the
International Feature Film category for having “too much English.” In
2015, the Afghan film “Utopia” was also eliminated from the category for
the exact same reason. Ironically, the Academy recently changed the name
of this award category from Best Foreign-Language Film to Best
International Feature Film to make the category more inclusive. This
change, and their subsequent decision to disqualify “Lionheart,”
demonstrates the Academy’s hypocrisy and their commitment to diminish our
stories.

It’s clear that the Academy has a history of gatekeeping for people of
color. Restricting Black films that tell the stories of people of color
from esteemed Hollywood spaces is a means of silencing us. But it is time
for this to end. Black stories and the stories of people of color deserve
to be considered for the same nominations, awards, and prestige as films
that tell the stories of white people. That is why the Academy must
restore “Lionheart’s” International Feature Film nomination and create
clear, consistent rules for the category moving forward that don't come at
the expense of Black people. 

[ [link removed] ]Join us in calling on the Academy to restore "Lionheart’s"
International Feature Film Oscar nomination.  

Until justice is real, 

—Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Johnny, Future, Amanda, Evan, Imani, Samantha,
Eesha, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References: 

 1. “Motion picture academy disqualifies Nigerian Oscar entry ‘Lionheart’
for having too much English dialogue,” Los Angeles Times, November 4,
2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]


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