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“Who is Still Alive,” a documentary directed by Nicolas Wadimoff that gives voice to Gaza humanitarian crisis survivors and refugees, has been selected by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture as Switzerland’s entry for
the Academy Award for best international feature film.
The documentary, which looks at the lives of nine Palestinian people who escaped the crisis in Gaza and explores the loss of home against the backdrop of the Gaza War, had its world premiere in Venice at the 2025 Giornate degli Autori, AKA Venice Days, sidebar.
For director Nicolas Wadimoff, “Who is Still Alive” is his third film dealing with Palestine, following “Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)” about the aftermath of Israel’s 2008 air strikes on the Gaza Strip and “The Apollo of Gaza” in 2018.
“Filming with the protagonists had to be organized in South Africa, one of the few countries where Palestinians from the Gaza Strip can enter without a visa,” according to a statement from promotional body Swiss Films.
In early 2026, “Who is Still Alive” scored the Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Festival and was nominated for best documentary at the Swiss Film Awards. The doc has continued to screen at many international fests, most recently in the Panorama Suisse section of this year’s Locarno Film Festival.
In the U.S., “Who is Still Alive” will be released in movie theatres by Watermelon Pictures, the distributor who handled Kaouther Ben Hania’s multi-award-winning, Oscar-nominated, Tunisian film “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” The film’s Swiss distributor is First Hand Films. “Who is Still Alive” will be released in French theaters in October by distributor Una Mattina. It has also been sold to the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.
“Who is Still Alive” was produced by Nicolas Wadimoff, Philippe Coeytaux, and Ketsia Stocker of the Geneva-based production company Akka Films, where Nicolas Wadimoff also serves as founder and producer. Co-producers include Easy Rider Films (Paris), Philistine Films (Palestine/Jordan), Cocoon Films (London), and RTS Radio Télévision Suisse.
“Representing Switzerland at the Oscars with our film “Qui Vit Enore” (“Who is Still Alive”) is a great honor that fills us with joy,” Wadimoff said in a statement. “At the same time, it is a great responsibility to make the bodies and voices of the film’s protagonists visible and audible—all of them survivors of the hell of Gaza who were confronted with the unspeakable, yet remain alive and standing tall,” he added.
“It is also an opportunity to loudly and clearly champion the values that have made Switzerland what it should continue to be: a country of humanism and humanity, of dialogue , and of respect for others. We will do our best to live up to this selection,” the director continued.
The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 14. The submission deadline for the international feature film category is Sept. 30.
