“Lionheart” by Genevieve Nnaji gains Oscars entry

Genevieve Nnaji directorial debut “Lionheart” movie has been picked as the country’s submission to the International Feature Film category of the 2020 Oscars. The first Nigerian movie to gain entry at the Oscars and Produced by Chinny Onwugbenu, Chichi Nwoko is a dedication to the late Amaka Igwe.

Nollywood has evolved over the years to become the second-largest movie industry in the world second to Bollywood, in terms of film output, surpassing Hollywood in the U.S. Nollywood has gone on to birth an industry of world-class indigenous film actors, world-acclaimed movie directors, producers, cameramen, editors, photographers, soundtrack artistes, special effects experts and more.

In 2019, Netflix bought the global license for Genevieve Nnaji’s LionHeart and films like, The Bling Lagosians (N120,135,1390), Chief Daddy (N387,028,949), The Wedding Party 2 (N512,000,0000), The Wedding Party (N453,050,000), Fifty (N94,030,500) and 30 Days in Atlanta (N137,200,000) have gone to become the highest-grossing films in the country.

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The Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC) has picked Genevieve Nnaji’s ‘Lionheart’ as the country’s submission to the International Feature Film category of the 2020 Oscars. Genevieve Nnaji on the set of ‘Lion Heart’ The group announced the selection today, following a statutory vetting and subsequent voting of entries received from Nigerian filmmakers at home and in the Diaspora.

“Lionheart” which is the first Netflix original film produced in Nigeria stars Pete Edochie, Genevieve Nnaji, Nkem Owoh, Onyeka Onwenu, Kanayo .O. Kanayo, Chika Okpala, Kalu Ikeagwu, Sanni Mu’azu, Yakubu Mohammed, Ngozi Ezeonu, Peter Okoye (P-Square) and Chibuzor Azubuike (Phyno).

The producers of “Lionheart” are honouring Late Amaka Igwe on this one. Before her death in 2014, she was a writer, producer, and director, most importantly, a pioneer of modern Nigerian TV drama and film, she is the writer and producer of award-winning TV soap ‘Checkmate’ and its offshoot ‘Fuji House of Commotion’. Her Nollywood projects include “Rattlesnake”, Violated and To Live Again. She founded BOBTV Exp and the Lagos mainland-based Top Radio 90.9FM station.

She is remembered for raising the bar in movie and TV production in Nigeria, setting, attaining and maintaining high standards with her company Amaka Igwe Studios at a time when Nollywood was not taken seriously.

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