Academy Approves the Nigerian Pidgin English as a Foreign Language for the Oscars
A huge win for the Nigerian film industry as the Nigerian Official Selection Committee for the Academy Awards Submission for Best International Feature Film recently revealed that the Oscars has approved Nigerian Pidgin English as a non-English (foreign language) recording dialogue in films. This was announced on the 17th of October by Chineze Anyaene, the chair of the committee.
According to Chineze Anyaene, the request for approval began in December 2019. Chineze stated that she visited the Academy’s office in Los Angeles in February 2020, where she met with the representatives of the International Feature Film (IFF) Executives. Chineze noted that:
Nigeria’s first-ever entry for IFF Oscar category was Lionheart, a film directed by the award-winning actress, Genevieve Nnaji. In 2019, Lionheart was disqualified from the IFF Oscar because according to the Nigeria Official Selection Committee, Lionheart was said to have deviated from the requirements and fell short in terms of spoken language. The statement read,
“An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
Meanwhile, Genevieve’s Lionheart predominantly features English dialogue, Igbo, Language and Pidgin. The disqualification, however, led to criticism on and off social media.
To correct this, the Nigeria Official Selection Committee (NOSC) for the Academy Awards IFF Submissions announced the approval of Pidgin English by the academy as non-English.
The chair, Chineze explained that for every submission in the IFF category this year, the minutes and percentage of all individual languages in the country-selected film will be required by the academy. She said,
“This is in line with the Academy’s rule and definition of an international film as a feature film with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English track. This approval as secured by the NOSC is a new feat for the industry and it is untrue if any other individual or entity claims such achievement as this is beyond mere writing to the Academy without knowing the approval intricacies.”
Following the approval, Chineze said that the selection committee might consider re-opening the portal for submission, which was closed the 2nd of October to allow 5 other filmmakers with Pidgin English films to submit their films.
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.