Syria Picks The Other Side of the Sun for Oscars
Syria has chosen Tawfik Sabouni's documentary The Other Side of the Sun as its entry for best international feature at the 2027 Academy Awards, Variety reported on Oct. 5, 2026. It is the country's first candidate since the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in December 2024.
The choice was announced by Syria's General Organization for Cinema, Variety reported. It was the first selection made by a newly formed Syrian committee accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the US-based body that runs the Oscars.
The film follows Sabouni as he returns to Damascus after the collapse of the Assad government. He had been held there himself. In Damascus he meets four fellow former detainees of Saidnaya prison and records their accounts, with reenactments staged inside Saidnaya itself, according to Variety.
The title refers to the prison's grim nickname. Saidnaya is known as "the other side of the sun," Icarus Films notes, because detainees were kept from daylight.
For anyone new to this category, each country can put forward one film made largely outside the United States. The Academy then trims the entries to a shortlist before voting on final nominations.
The Other Side of the Sun began its public life in Panorama, the Berlin International Film Festival's section for new international cinema. The Berlinale lists the screening date as Feb. 15, 2026, and describes it as a 2026 film from Belgium, France and Saudi Arabia directed by Sabouni. It is produced by France's Dérives, Habilis Productions and Clin d'Oeil Films, and later played the Amman International Film Festival in Jordan, where it won prizes, Variety reported.
The business around the film is already in place. Andana Films handles worldwide sales, meaning it sells screening rights to distributors country by country. New York-based Icarus Films has acquired US rights.
What happens next is a long wait. The Academy will announce the shortlist on Dec. 15, reveal the final nominations on Jan. 21, and hold the 99th Academy Awards ceremony on March 14 in Los Angeles, Variety reported.
