The Academy has disqualified the Nigerian film "Lionheart" from an Oscars category for including "too much English." Tell the Academy to restore the International Feature Film nomination for "Lionheart."
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. 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.
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.
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:
- “Motion picture academy disqualifies Nigerian Oscar entry ‘Lionheart’ for having too much English dialogue,” Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/213163?t=7&akid=39010%2E4731121%2EGhvt-U
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