Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart earlier chosen for the 2020 Oscar race has been disqualified.
The Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee said Lionheart violates its rule that entries in the category must have “a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
.Nnaji
Voters will no longer vote for the Lionheart that is supposed to kick-off on Wednesday going by an email from the Academy on Monday announcing the disqualification.
Nigeria’s Lionheart made it in the Best International Feature Film category as one of the 93 entries.
But with the disqualification of Lionheart, a movie the Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC) picked on October 2, as the first film ever submitted to the Oscars by Nigeria, the entries have dropped to 92.
On January 4, 2019 after a December 2018 theatrical release in Nigeria, Lionheart, which is directed by Genevieve, 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.
.Owoh and Nnaji
Adaeze’s competing business instincts and family obligations become a catalyst for drastic change not everyone is ready to embrace, according to Qed.ng.