Sudabeh Mortezai’s Joy is the second film to be disqualified following Lionheart’s disqualification, which triggered widespread criticism from those who argued that Nigeria was being punished for being colonised.
Joy, which was also submitted for the Best International Film category (known until last year as the Best Foreign Language Film category) was disqualified because the Academy found that two-thirds of the film’s dialogue is in English.
Joy is centred on Nigerian workers in Vienna, and was premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, enjoyed a theatrical release in Austria and an American debut on Netflix.
This is not Austria’s first entry into the Oscars. The country has submitted 42 films in total and has had a few wins.
Two, 2007’s The Counterfeiters and 2012’s Amour, went on to wins; two others, 1986’s ’38 — Vienna Before the Fall and 2008’s Revanche, settled for nominations; and one, 2005’s Cache, was disqualified.
“As we do every year, the Academy is in the process of reviewing the films submitted for the International Feature Film category to determine whether they meet our eligibility rules. The film Joy, submitted by Austria, was just reviewed and is ineligible because only 33% of the dialogue is non-English.”, The Academy stated, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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