DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Oscar submission, “A Matter of Life and Death,” written by and starring Saudi actress Sarah Taibah, is set to screen at the Hollywood Arab Film Festival in Los Angeles on Nov. 8.
The screening at the Culver Theater will be followed by a Q&A session with Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, who backed the film through his Cairo-based company Film Clinic.
The Saudi Film Commission announced in October that the film would represent the Kingdom in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, which take place in March 2027. Saudi Arabia has never been nominated in the category.
Directed by Saudi filmmaker Anas Ba-Tahaf, the Jeddah-set romantic dark comedy follows Hayat, played by Taibah, a 29-year-old woman convinced that a family curse will kill her on her 30th birthday. She crosses paths with Youssef, an emotionally detached heart surgeon with an unusually slow heartbeat, played by Saudi actor Yagoub Al-Farhan. Together, the pair plan a scheme to cheat death.
“It’s a romantic dark comedy. I think it’s a very new genre in Saudi films. It’s very colorful … I’m very excited and scared for people to see it,” Taibah told Arab News on the Red Sea International Film Festival red carpet in December 2025, where the film had its world premiere in the Arab Spectacular section.
The film opened in Saudi cinemas on June 25 this year, after its release was postponed due to the regional conflict. It went on to receive a special jury mention at the 12th Saudi Film Festival in Dhahran, where Taibah won the Golden Palm for best acting. It has also screened internationally, including at the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden in April and at New York’s Jacob Burns Film Center in July. The film became available to stream on Shahid on Oct. 22.
Taibah and Ba-Tahaf previously worked together on the TV series “Jameel Jeddan,” billed as the first Saudi show to be created, written by and starring a Saudi woman. Taibah is also known for her roles in “Mandoob” and “Hwjn.”
“A Matter of Life and Death” was produced by Hefzy for Film Clinic, Gianluca Chakra for Front Row Filmed Entertainment, and Abdulelah Al-Ahmary and Ahmad Taema for Arabia Pictures, with support from the Red Sea Fund.
