Switzerland Picks 'Who is Still Alive' for Oscars
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- Nicolas Wadimoff directed "Who is Still Alive," which the Swiss Federal Office of Culture selected as Switzerland's entry for the Academy Award for best international feature film.
- The documentary follows nine Palestinian survivors who escaped the Gaza humanitarian crisis and explores loss of home during the Gaza War, with its world premiere at Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.
- Wadimoff described the selection as a chance to make "the bodies and voices of the film's protagonists visible and audible," calling it "a country of humanism and humanity, of dialogue, and of respect for others."
- "Who is Still Alive" is Wadimoff's third film on Palestine, following "Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)" about the aftermath of Israel's 2008 air strikes and "The Apollo of Gaza" in 2018; it won the Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Festival in early 2026 and was nominated for best documentary at the Swiss Film Awards.
- Filming with the protagonists had to be organized in South Africa, one of the few countries where Palestinians from the Gaza Strip can enter without a visa, according to promotional body Swiss Films.
- Watermelon Pictures will release the film in U.S. theaters; the distributor previously handled Kaouther Ben Hania's Oscar-nominated "The Voice of Hind Rajab," and the film has also been sold to the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America, with French theatrical release set for October.
- The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 14, with the international feature film submission deadline on September 30.
Why it matters: The Oscar entry gives a Gaza-focused documentary — produced by Geneva-based Akka Films with co-producers in Paris, Palestine/Jordan, and London — a path to Hollywood's biggest stage. With the March 14 ceremony and September 30 deadline looming, the film joins the international feature film race alongside its U.S. distributor's prior Oscar-nominated "The Voice of Hind Rajab," signaling continued awards-season attention to Palestinian storytelling.
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