Saudi Arabia has selected Haifaa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate as its official entry for the 2020 Oscars in the best international feature category, according to reports.
Haifaa Al Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate” is about a Saudi doctor who challenges the patriarchal system in her country by running in municipal elections.
Al Mansour is one of the Kingdom’s best-known directors, having directed the critically acclaimed film Wadjda, which was one of the first Saudi feature films ever made, the first entirely filmed within Saudi Arabia, and the first by a Saudi woman.
“The Perfect Candidate” recently premiered at the 76th Venice Film Festival, and is the first film to be supported by the Saudi Film Council, which was launched at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
It is also only the third submission to the Academy, and the first since it lifted a 35-year cinema ban.
