Saudi Arabia Picks 'A Matter of Life and Death' for Oscar — SkimNews
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- Saudi Arabia selected 'A Matter of Life and Death' as its candidate in the Oscars international feature film category, its second submission after 'Barakah Meets Barakah' represented the kingdom a decade ago at the 89th Academy Awards.
- Anas Ba Tahaf makes his directorial debut with the film, having previously served as co-producer, editor and first assistant director on 'Barakah Meets Barakah.'
- Sarah Taibah (who won an acting award at the Saudi Film Festival for the role) and Yaqoub Alfarhan lead the cast in a plot about a suicidal superstitious woman and an introverted heart surgeon drawn to death who inconveniently fall in love.
- The film premiered at the Red Sea International Film Festival in December 2024, then opened theatrically across Saudi Arabia in June, pulling roughly $600,000 in grosses per Rentrak.
- Mohamed Hefzy (Film Clinic), Gianluca Chakra (Front Row Filmed Entertainment) and Abdulelah Alahmary and Ahmad Taema (Arabia Pictures) produced the film with support from the Red Sea Fund; Front Row is handling international sales.
- The Academy will announce the shortlist on Dec. 15, final nominations on Jan. 21, and hold the 99th ceremony on March 14 in Los Angeles.
Why it matters: This is only Saudi Arabia's second-ever Oscar submission, and the institutional scaffolding around it — Red Sea Fund backing, a Red Sea Festival world premiere, and Front Row handling international sales — shows the kingdom is building sustained film-industry infrastructure rather than running one-off campaigns. The ~$600,000 domestic gross and a Saudi Film Festival jury mention indicate a film that moved through both festival and theatrical circuits before being elevated to Oscar consideration.
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