The Oscars Award Academy has disqualified Nigeria’s ‘Lionheart’ from the Oscar race in the Best International Feature Film category.

The 2018 film was directed by Nollywood actress and director Genevieve Nnaj

The movie is said to have violated an Academy rule that entries in the best international feature film category must have a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

Lionheart is largely in English, with an 11-minute section in the Igbo language.

It is also reported that the film had not been vetted by the Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee in advance of the October 7 announcement of qualifying films.

Nnaji who also starts in the movie has sharply reacted to the move .

"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" said Nnaji

Adding "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"  

American filmmaker and film distributor Ava DuVernay also criticised the move stating "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?"

In the movie, Nnaji Gennevive Nnaji plays a woman who tries to keep her father's struggling company afloat in a male-dominated environment by stepping  up to the challenge to work with her crude and eccentric brother when her father, Chief Ernest Obiagu is forced to take a step back due to health issues.