“Palestine 36” nominated for Best International Film at IFTAs

• The historical drama Palestine 36 has secured key nominations at the 21st IFTAs for Best International Film and Best Supporting Actor (Liam Cunningham), with winners to be announced in Dublin on February 20, 2026.
• Directed by Annemarie Jacir, the film—which chronicles the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt against British rule—is Palestine's official entry for the 2026 Academy Awards following a Best Film win at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Palestine 36 shares the Best International Feature nomination with Bugonia, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, and Sinners.

This latest award recognition for Palestine 36 arrives as the film builds momentum across the global circuit, including an Oscar shortlist placement for Palestine in the 98th Academy Awards International Feature Film category and a continuous remarkable theatrical run, now in its historic 13th week across UK & Ireland cinemas, while expanding its international release with theatrical releases in France and across the Arab World with upcoming releases in Italy, Germany, Spain, Chile, Belgium, and North America.

Its Palestinian premiere was held in Gaza. 

Global Awards & Recognition

An exceptional festival run has positioned PALESTINE 36 as one of the standout international titles of the year - marked by major wins, key premieres, and sustained momentum across territories.

• IFTA 2026 nominations: Supporting Actor – Film (Liam Cunningham); International Film
• Academy Awards (98th Oscars) - Shortlist for Best International Feature Film
• Tokyo International Film Festival - Tokyo Grand Prix
• São Paulo International Film Festival - Audience Award (Best International Fiction)
• 2026 Girls on Film Award for Best Cinematography
• European Film Awards - Shortlist (Feature Film Selection 2026)
• Asian World Film Festival - Snow Leopard Special Jury Award 
• Asia Pacific Screen Awards - Best Screenplay nomination
• Arab Film Festival (San Francisco) - Audience Award
• London Critics’ Circle Film Awards - Breakthrough Performer of the Year nomination (Robert Aramayo)
• Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival & Symposium (Canada): Production Design Award

The film has also screened internationally, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), AFI Fest (Los Angeles), Rome Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Carthage Film Festival (Opening Film), Marrakech International Film Festival (Closing Film), and a Red Sea International Film Festival Gala Screening, with ongoing releases across multiple territories.

About the film

Set against the seismic events of 1936, PALESTINE 36 follows Yusuf, a young man moving between his rural village and the charged streets of Jerusalem, as Mandatory Palestine erupts in the largest and longest uprising against British colonial rule - a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the region.

Featuring an international ensemble cast including Hiam Abbass, Saleh Bakri, Kamel El Basha, Dhafer L’Abidine, Yasmine Al Massri, Billy Howle, Liam Cunningham, Robert Aramayo, and Jeremy Irons, PALESTINE 36 is Jacir’s most ambitious feature to date.

A film built against the odds

PALESTINE 36 began pre-production in January 2023, restoring and rebuilding locations at scale, before repeated shutdowns and relocation forced the team to restart - ultimately returning to complete shooting in Palestine after thirteen months, and wrapping following multiple stop-start cycles. In November of 2024, after having to stop and start production four times due to the increasingly tense geopolitical situation, the team of PALESTINE 36 finally wrapped the final phase of shooting. The only feature film to shoot in Palestine in the last two years, the film’s making became inseparable from its meaning: a work carried through crisis, rooted in lived reality, and driven by a belief in cinema as cultural memory, urgency, and survival.

A landmark moment for Palestinian cinema

With this recognition, PALESTINE 36 becomes Annemarie Jacir’s fourth film to be submitted by Palestine for the Academy Awards’ International Feature Film race - following Salt of This Sea, When I Saw You, and Wajib.

It is also only the third Palestinian submission to reach the Academy’s International Feature Film shortlist, following Hany Abu-Assad’s Omar and From Ground Zero, the Gaza-made anthology created by a collective of filmmakers, and Jacir stands as the first female director representing Palestine for Best International Film to be shortlisted for the Oscars.