Four Likely Reasons ‘King of Boys’ Didn’t Make the Oscar Cut

  By Ikenna Obioha

Genevieve Nnaji continues in her winning streak for her directorial debut, ‘Lionheart’. The film was picked by the Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC) to be the country representative at this year’s Academy Award, slated for February 24, 2020. 

If Nnaji should bag the prestigious award next year, it will be one of the many firsts in her career, and for Nollywood on a larger scale.  However, the news of her nomination wasn’t well received by some movie lovers who felt director Kemi Adetiba deserved the spotlight for her 2018 effort  ‘King of Boys’ that saw both Sola Sobowale and Adesua Etomi in leading roles. 

In the midst of the social media hullabaloo over who deserves what, here are 5 reasons we think ‘Lionheart’ stands a better chance than ‘King of Boys’ in the Oscar race.

DEBUT PLATFORM
‘Lionheart’ campaigns at film festivals played a huge role in its success and nomination. Nnaji launched her film at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Right off the bat, she harnessed the power of international media to her advantage, which in turn opened doors for her on the Netflix platform.

This alone, made her film the first Nollywood production on the streaming platform.  Due to its accessibility, the international audience quickly identified with it. So, when it came to choosing who got nominated, ‘Lionheart’ became the obvious choice. 

‘King of Boys’ doesn’t have this level of reach as it opened locally (grossing N254 million). It was only recently added to Netflix. So it is safe to say that not much is known of it outside Nigeria. 

SOCIAL RELEVANCE
In the heat of the #OSCARSOWHITE movement, veteran actresses, Meryl Streep and Whoopi Goldberg tried to defend the Academy Awards’ reason for not picking the Idris Elba starred ‘Beast of No Nation’. They hinted it was because the film didn’t reflect what most of film critics and aficionados wanted to see at the time.

In other words, it wasn’t relevant. ‘

Lionheart’ portrays a black African heroine, an empowering figure for women around the world at a time when the feminism movement is loudest. On the other hand, while ‘King of Boys’ portrays another strong female, her portrayal was in a negative light that abuses power just to prove how women can also be strong figures.

Banking on what was stated earlier; such factors may appeal to the committee in this era where films have become satirical mediums for reflecting current social issues. 

SUBMISSION STATUS
To stand a chance for nomination, award bodies call for entries to accommodate films or songs released within certain window period. Chances are: ‘King of Boys’ wasn’t submitted for consideration, and even if they wanted to, it had only debut on the international scene (Netflix) recently thus making it ineligible for submission. It is as simple as this. 

But let’s assume it was submitted and had to go head-to-head with ‘Lionheart’, the next point should be considered. 

PLOT HOLES
Juxtaposing both films, it is obvious to note how they both excelled in the area of cinematography. However, plot development is where ‘Lionheart’ slightly edges out ‘King of Boys’. Almost three-hour long, ‘King of Boys’ poorly articulates its plot – through poor editing between scenes – albeit having ample time to do so.

On the other hand, ‘Lionheart’ was able to relay its plot in a clear-cut, linear manner within its 98 minutes run. Riddled with countless flashbacks and irrelevant scenes, ‘King of Boys’ stands no chance against the simplicity ‘Lionheart’ conveys. 

The former’s highly experimental nature comes as a need for former music director, Kemi Adetiba to be pop. A quality she thrived on in’ The Wedding Party’. There is also the point about character development. While Eniola Salami (Sola Sobowale) is touted as the King of Boys, the gang-lord who rules the night and day, the director elevates the character of her daughter, Kemi as she does more to hold onto the reign of power than the defined king.

Sobowale remains, in the main a lot of huff and puff and just while the audience is preparing for grand switch of roles, the young lady gets killed terminating a critical part of the plot. Given that the category welcome films from across the world, the Nigerian selection committee must have considered the importance of putting the best foot forward in the
circumstance.

And of course, decisions about who and what gets an Oscars isn’t about emotions but the satisfaction of the technical requirements for a good film.