The Oscars Academy dropped the Nigerian drama "for having too much dialogue in English", which violates its rule that requires entries in the international category to have “a predominantly non-English dialogue track”.

Lionheart, which is Nigeria's first submission to the Oscars, is largely in English, with an 11-minute section in the Igbo language.

The film, which has garnered positive reviews and is currently streaming on Netflix, had been scheduled to screen for Academy voters in the international category on Wednesday.

Its disqualification was announced to voters in an email on Monday, according to The Wrap website.

It was one of the unprecedented 29 films out of 93 originally submitted this year that were directed by women.

Ms Nnaji, who also stars in the film, protested about the disqualification on Twitter, saying the film "represents the way we speak as Nigerians".

She added: "This includes English, which acts as a bridge between the 500-plus languages spoken in our country. We did not choose who colonised us. As ever, this film and many like it, is proudly Nigerian."

Top Hollywood director Ava DuVernay tweeted in support of Lionheart asking if the disqualification meant "barring" Nigeria from ever competing for an Oscar:

You are unable to view this content because you have disabled third party cookies. If you would like to view this content, you will need to amend your cookie settings. You can change you settings at any time.

View content: https://twitter.com/GenevieveNnaji1/status/1191502043388817411

You are unable to view this content because you have disabled third party cookies. If you would like to view this content, you will need to amend your cookie settings. You can change you settings at any time.

View content: https://twitter.com/GenevieveNnaji1/status/1191502490430300160

English is the official language of most African countries that were colonised by the UK.