“A Matter of Life and Death” officially represents Saudi Arabia in the upcoming Oscar race

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The Saudi Film Commission chose the feature film “A Matter of Life and Death” to officially represent the Kingdom in the upcoming Oscar race for the Best International Film category, after a careful review that included a number of Saudi films, and under the supervision of the Saudi Film Selection Committee for the Academy Awards.

The committee, which includes an elite group of the most prominent Saudi filmmakers and specialists, is responsible for reviewing and selecting advanced films according to the standards approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). This year’s session witnessed the participation of a number of distinguished Saudi films, which required the committee to carefully study before it agreed, after intense deliberations, to choose the film A Matter of Life or Death to officially represent the Kingdom in this category.

The movie “A Matter of Life or Death” is one of the Saudi cinematic productions that presents a story that mixes romance with black comedy. Its events revolve in the city of Jeddah around Hayat, who believes that an inherited belief foretells her death when she reaches the age of thirty, and Youssef, a heart surgeon who suffers from a slow heartbeat. Unforeseen circumstances bring them together, putting them before the questions of life, death, love, and fate.

The film comes with a directing vision by Anas Bathaf, written by Sarah Taiba, and starring Yaqoub Al-Farhan and Sarah Taiba, along with a number of rising Saudi talents and prominent names in the cinematic scene.

According to the eligibility criteria approved by the Academy for the Best International Feature Film category, films submitted from various countries of the world go through several stages of evaluation and sorting, leading to the announcement of the preliminary list, then the final list of candidates determined by the Academy, with the winning film being announced during the Academy Awards ceremony in March 2027.