Switzerland submits Gaza displacement documentary for 2027 Oscars
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Switzerland has formally chosen Nicolas Wadimoff’s documentary “Who is Still Alive” as its submission for the best international feature film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The film centres on nine Palestinians who escaped Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, examining displacement and the loss of home during the Gaza War; the selection gives their experiences a prominent awards-platform audience.
The documentary premiered at Venice Days in 2025, won the Prix de Soleure in early 2026 and received a Swiss Film Awards documentary nomination. It was filmed in South Africa, one of the few countries Palestinians from Gaza could enter without a visa, according to Swiss Films; it will be released theatrically in the US by Watermelon Pictures and in France in October.
- Switzerland selects Gaza-survivor documentary for the Oscars
- Film follows nine Palestinians displaced by the war
- It has won a Swiss festival prize
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The Gaza War began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing people and taking hostages. Israel then launched a large military campaign in Gaza, where more than two million Palestinians live, leading to widespread destruction, civilian deaths and displacement.
Many people in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes, often more than once, because of fighting, evacuation orders and shortages of food, water and medical care. Leaving Gaza itself is difficult because its borders are tightly controlled, so those who reach other countries are a small part of the wider displaced population.
The Academy Awards are annual US film awards, and each country may submit one film for the international feature category. A national submission does not guarantee an Oscar nomination, but it can bring international attention to a film and the experiences it portrays.
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Originally published by Variety as “Oscars: Switzerland Selects ‘Who is Still Alive’ About Palestinians Who Escaped Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza”.