by Cláudio Alves
This year, the Best International Film category celebrated a record-setting number of submissions - 93 in total. 2019 has also been marked by the renaming of the award, which was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, as well as some new rules that slightly change the voting process. However, one of the unhappiest yearly traditions associated with this honor refuses to go away. Once more, some films are being disqualified.
Nigeria's Lionheart isn't eligible for the Oscar. This is particularly terrible when one considers it's the first submission from one of the few African nations with a thriving film industry. Not surprisingly, the decision has generated quite a bit of controversy, with such renowned filmmakers as Ava DuVernay criticizing it…
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
Indeed, Nigeria's official language is English, making it almost impossible for one of the country's films to be eligible. In that regard, it's in the same boat as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and some other countries. Only when they submit a film in a language other than English do they become eligible for this particular Oscar. This very same year, the UK's in the running with The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, an English-Malawi coproduction spoken mostly in Nyanja.
There are some Nollywood films in Yoruba, Igbo and/or Hausa. So, technically, if Nigeria submits a production with a majority of its spoken dialogue in one of those other languages, it can become eligible. Such isn't the case of Lionheart, a pleasant and inspiring narrative with progressive values and a stellar performance by Genevieve Nnaji, who also directed. While some of its dialogue is in Igbo, most of it is in English. Austria's Joy, about Nigerian immigrants, is in a similar predicament, even though the Academy hasn't disqualified it yet.
With all of this into account, should Lionheart still be eligible? Moreover, should the rules of the category be changed, to open it to any non-American films as opposed to only non-English speaking ones? Regarding both dilemmas, I have many doubts and troubled thoughts.
On one hand, this situation seems deeply unfair to Nigeria, a country whose official language is English as a consequence of colonialism. On the other, opening the category to all non-American productions seems unwise. Perhaps I have too little faith in the Academy, but all I can think about when confronted with that hypothesis is that the UK would be nominated every single year.
With different rules, could Call My By Your Name have won the Best International Film Oscar?
Even if American co-productions like The King's Speech or The Favourite are deemed ineligible, that wouldn't be the case for Brooklyn (Ireland-UK-Canada) or Call Me By Your Name (France-Italy), just to name two examples. If you draw the line and permanently exclude British and Australian productions, that still doesn't disqualify the Guadagnino romantic drama.
As I see it, this category exists to honor international cinema from countries that are otherwise unrepresented in the other Oscar races. I can't fathom a general rule change that would maintain this core principle while also opening the category to English-speaking films. Maybe the solution lies in a case-by-case evaluation, with no rules being uniformly applied to every country. It wouldn't be equal, but it could be a bit more just than the current state of affairs.
