Arab News | Oscars: Saudi Arabia submits ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ for Best International Feature

DUBAI: The Saudi Film Commission has selected Anas Ba Tahaf’s “A Matter of Life and Death” as the Kingdom’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.

Written by and starring Sarah Taibah, alongside Yaqoub Al-Farhan, the film is produced by Film Clinic, Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Arabia Pictures.

Set in contemporary Jeddah, “A Matter of Life and Death” blends romance, fantasy and black comedy, unfolding within a highly stylized visual world.

“At heart, it is a love story, just not the safe kind,” a description of the movie notes. “At its center is Hayat, a fiercely independent young woman convinced that a generational curse will kill her on her 30th birthday.

“Having made peace with dying, she crosses paths with Yousef, a brilliant but emotionally detached heart surgeon living with bradycardia. His abnormally slow heartbeat only seems to quicken when he comes close to death — or to killing.

“As a surgeon surrounded every day by the fragile line between life and death, temptation is never far away.”

Filmmaker Ba-Tahaf said in an earlier interview with Arab News: “It’s the story of two people who’ve lost what it means to actually live because of their obsession … and then love brings them back and makes them realize that there is so much to live for.” 

“Dark comedy is my favorite genre,” said Taibah. “So many comedy films are just silly jokes and nothing is serious, and so many Arabic dramas we watch are so much cheating, and weeping on the floor, and so much sadness.

“But what I like about dark comedy is that it’s closest to reality — I have days where I’ll cry my eyes out and then really have fun later on. Sometimes I laugh in the middle of crying. If you laugh at problems, they suddenly become lighter.”