Syria selects documentary “The Other Side of the Sun” as its submission for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category. Multiple outlets say the film, directed by Tawfik Sabouni, focuses on the experience of imprisonment in Saydnaya Prison, a detention site closely tied to Syria’s recent history and public memory.
Deadline and Variety both frame the selection as Syria’s first Oscar-related entry since the end of the Assad regime, following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024 and the move to a transitional government. The Hollywood Reporter also highlights the subject matter, emphasizing the film’s focus on captivity at Saydnaya.
While all sources agree on the documentary title and its prison-centered premise, they differ in emphasis. Deadline and Variety foreground the timing—marking a return to the Oscars after regime change—whereas the Hollywood Reporter focuses more directly on the film’s thematic coverage of Saydnaya Prison.
