Four Arab films shortlisted in Oscars race, with Palestine at the forefront

It's a big year already for Arab cinema at the Oscars. Of the 15 films shortlisted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best international feature, a record four selections hail from the Arab world, including three that feature Palestinian stories and female directors at the helm.

It's a strong message, just weeks before the official nominations are set to be announced, on Jan. 22, 2026. The 98th Oscars awards ceremony will be on March 15.

This quartet of films — "The President’s Cake" (Iraq), "All That’s Left of You" (Jordan), "Palestine 36" (Palestine) and "The Voice of Hind Rajab" (Tunisia) — signal a shift in Hollywood and the mainstream film industry, fed by a surge in global recognition of Arab storytelling, especially focused on Palestinian narratives, after two years of Israel's devastating onslaught against Gaza.

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Palestine at the heart of the selection

Three of these four films explore the Palestinian experience directly, each through its own lens.

Annemarie Jacir, a major figure in Palestinian cinema, is the director of what is probably the selection's most ambitious project: "Palestine 36."

The film is a historical fresco set during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt against the British mandate and the intensification of Jewish immigration. The story follows Yusuf, a young man caught between his rural village and Jerusalem as the country tips toward confrontation.

Featuring an international cast — Hiam Abbass, Saleh Bakri, Jeremy Irons and Liam Cunningham — the film illuminates and reclaims a confiscated history, bringing Palestinian storytelling into the global narrative of colonialism.

For reference

Annemarie Jacir’s ‘Palestine 36’ brings a bold voice to the Oscars

With "All That’s Left of You," Jordanian-Palestinian director Cherien Dabis takes a more intimate approach to the same story of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. The film is an intergenerational drama that traces the history of a Palestinian family across a fractured timescape and explores the lasting effects of living in a reality where one's home and one's memories are under constant threat.

"The Voice of Hind Rajab," from Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, is anchored in raw, heart-wrenching material: audio recordings of the last conversation between little Hind Rajab and Palestinian Red Crescent rescuers as she was trapped in her family's car, surrounded by Israeli soldiers who had already killed her family.

Hania, whose is known for masterfully blending drama and documentary, has already won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for this latest film, which is also nominated for the 2026 Golden Globes.

A diverse Arab perspective

The fourth shortlisted Arab work, "The President’s Cake" by Iraqi director Hasan Hadi, shifts the focus to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Through the dreamlike journey of a boy tasked with delivering a cake to the dictator, the film creates a surreal satire of power and fear, a reminder of how imagination works as a weapon against oppression.

This notable Arab presence is part of an exceptionally strong international selection: 86 countries or regions submitted a film this year. It also echoes other shortlisted works tied to the Middle East and North Africa, such as Oliver Laxe’s "Sirat" — filmed in Morocco — or "Un simple accident," an Iranian film by Jafar Panahi, presented by France after being shot clandestinely, since the filmmaker faces heavy sentences in his home country.

Never before have so many Arab films reached this stage in this category. That three of them explicitly center Palestinian stories is significant: while independent filmmakers have been creating films about Palestinian life and struggle for decades now, institutional recognition brings these stories to a wider audience and signals a new level of political urgency.