BY ERNEST OSOGBUE
The furor surrounding the recent disqualification of the Nigerian film Lionheart from the Academy Awards is still playing out in the public domain. There have been several opinions on the issue; some educated and others, outright emotional outbursts.
First is the reaction of those, including the producer of the film Geneviève Nnaji, that since Nigerians could not have chosen their colonial master, which made English the official Nigerian language, it was wrong for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences AMPAS to disqualify a Nigerian film produced in English. There are those who have also argued that the film was disqualified for other reasons, but that the Academy simply wanted to be diplomatic. A few correct voices have come out to say that for the category for which Lionheart was entered, English language was not allowed.
Nigerians must first understand what the Academy Awards popularly known as the Oscars is all about. It started informally in 1929, when the first award was presented on May 16th of that year. Since then, the Oscars have undergone several metamorphoses. The category for which Lionheart was entered; the Best International feature (Foreign Language) Film was first awarded in 1957. Before then, foreign language films only merited Special Achievement Awards.
The general category of the Oscars are awarded to films in English Language no matter where they are produced, but which were screened in America and must have opened at midnight of 1st January of the previous year to midnight at the end of 31st December in Los Angeles County, and play for 7 consecutive days. The international category was only introduced as a complementary award to films screened in other lands and in languages other than English. It must also be a country’s official nomination.
What the above means therefore, is that Nigerian films shot in English can enter for the general categories of the Oscars, as long as they meet the above criteria; being screened in Los Angeles County as prescribed above. This is how Indian films like Slumdog Millionaire and Life of Pi won the Oscars and worldwide acclaim. Films produced in the UK, Canada, Australia and other English speaking countries have entered these categories and won many awards in the past.
It is also important to note that no individual film producer can submit a film on behalf of a country in the international category. All stakeholders, including the government via the ministry of culture or an appropriate agency, must sit down and make the judgment before the submission.
When I first heard of Lionheart’s disqualification, the question that popped up in my mind was ‘how much buzz did this film generate in Nigeria before being submitted?’ I know that the first award a foreign film should win must not be the Oscar. Before a foreign film can qualify and win the foreign language Oscar award, it must have won several awards in its own country.
In the case of Lionheart, I must confess that the Oscar controversy was the first time I was hearing about the film. Another issue of note is the matter of who officially cleared Lionheart as Nigeria’s entry for the Academy Awards. Was the Ministry of Culture in consultations with the Actors Guild, Directors Guild, film producers associations and other stakeholders involved? The attitude of Nigerians in the arts to first seek international approval before being recognized at home has always been of interest to me. I believe the lack of proper institutions in the various arms of the arts has given rise to a situation where honors are mostly administered by charlatans.
If not, how would you explain a situation where a prominent banker who received the banker of the year award a few years ago, was convicted and sent to jail for fraudulent banking practices in the same year. This is why Nigerians seek foreign approval before being approved at home. Professor Wole Soyinka was awarded the national honor of Commander of the Federal Republic CFR, only after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. By the same token, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, was acknowledged as a great author only after her debut novel Purple Hibiscus had garnered international awards.
It is therefore no surprise that Nigerians are usually in a hurry to conquer foreign lands before conquering at home, due to poor institutional framework across sectors. While conducting an academic research a few years ago, I raised the issue with celebrated Nigerian author Helon Habila, his response is instructive: quote ‘The arts is an industry, you have to have critics who review books (films) and publishers who publish the reviews, so it is more organized abroad. Over there, there is a standardized process where books are reviewed and put through certain tests if you like and then they emerge as good books. In our own case, it is possible to see a book that is not even good being launched and people giving money, and then you find a good book which nobody talks about. So because we don’t have that system, we don’t have the critics who are dedicated, whose job it is to discover good books, write about them, and talk about them, that is our main problem.’ unquote.
We must realize that as with books, so with films, and when we take it in perspective, we can understand why the creative Nigerian would prefer a foreign honor to a local one. Be that as it may however, it would be great if people like Geneviève Nnaji, an icon of our film industry, would show a little more faith in our country.
This they can do by first ensuring that before entering for a foreign award, their selected entry must have become a household product in Nigeria. Most films which win the international Feature category at the Oscars usually have the backing of the government of that country, stakeholders of the industry, and that of the ordinary citizens.
We must also note that the Oscars though celebrated around the world, were created by Americans for America; they therefore have the right to make the rules the way they want. It is equally possible for us to create our own film awards and make them world class, or better still, Nigerian producers can enter the general category where they have a chance to compete with productions by giants like Martin Scorcese, Quentin Trantino, Woody Allen and a host of others. If by chance they succeed in winning among such a field; then we can all celebrate the fact that Nollywood has truly conquered the world.
