''Joy'' is a 2018 Austrian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed and written by
Sudabeh Mortezai. The plot revolves around Joy (
Anwulika Alphonsus), a young Nigerian woman who walks the streets to pay off debts while also supporting her family in Nigeria and her daughter in Vienna.
It was selected as the Austrian entry for the
Best International Feature Film at the
92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...
.
However, the film was disqualified in November 2019, with the Academy stating that the film had too much dialogue in English. The filmmakers disputed the disqualification, arguing that when the parts of the dialogue in
Nigerian Pidgin that are unintelligible to English speakers are counted separately from English, English constitutes less than 50% of the entire dialogue and thus the film should be eligible, but the Academy stood by its initial decision.
Premise
Joy is a young Nigerian woman walking the streets to pay off debts while supporting her family in Nigeria and her daughter in Vienna. She’s instructed to supervise Precious, a new teenage girl from Nigeria about to go down the same path as her.
Cast
*
Joy Anwulika Alphonsus as Joy
* Mariam Sanusi as Precious
* Angela Ekeleme as Madame
Release
It was released on January 18, 2019 on Netflix streaming.
See also
*
*
List of Austrian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
*
*
{{London Film Festival Award for Best Film
2018 films
Austrian drama films
Hood films
2010s English-language films
English-language Austrian films
2010s German-language films
2018 drama films
2010s American films