Switzerland Picks Gaza Refugee Doc for Oscar Race
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- Switzerland selected Nicolas Wadimoff's documentary "Who Is Still Alive" (Qui Vit Encore) as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards on March 14, 2027
- "Who Is Still Alive" tells the story of nine Palestinian refugees who fled Gaza, with the protagonists filmed in South Africa — described in the source as one of the few countries where Palestinians from the Gaza Strip can enter without a visa
- Nicolas Wadimoff has now made three films centered on Palestine, following 2010's "Still Alive in Gaza" and 2018's "The Apollo of Gaza"; his new documentary had its world premiere at Venice's 2025 Giornate degli Autori
- "Who Is Still Alive" won the Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Festival in early 2026 and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Swiss Film Awards, and has sold to territories across the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America
- Akka Films (Geneva) produced the documentary alongside co-producers Easy Rider Films (Paris), Philistine Films (Palestine-Jordan), Cocoon Films (UK) and Swiss broadcaster RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
- Watermelon Pictures — the U.S. distributor of last year's Oscar-nominated "The Voice of Hind Rajab" — is set to release the film theatrically in the U.S. this fall, with First Hand Films handling Switzerland and Una Mattina releasing in France in October
Why it matters: Switzerland's submission gives a documentary about Gaza refugees — filmed in South Africa because Palestinians from Gaza lack visa-free access to most countries — a direct path into the Oscar race. The U.S. distributor, Watermelon Pictures, is the same company that steered last year's "Voice of Hind Rajab" to an Oscar nomination, marking back-to-back Gaza-focused docs from the same American distributor.
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