Morocco has selected Laila Marrakchi’s "La Más Dulce" ("Strawberries") as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
Morocco has selected Laila Marrakchi’s "La Más Dulce" ("Strawberries") as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, scheduled for 14 March 2027 in Los Angeles.
The Moroccan Cinema Center (Centre Cinématographique Marocain, CCM), the Rabat-based public institution responsible for regulating and supporting Morocco’s film sector, announced the decision on 2 September 2026. The country’s selection committee chose the film unanimously, citing its subject, technical and artistic qualities and distribution prospects.
"La Más Dulce" was selected for Un Certain Regard, a competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection, in May 2026. The 101-minute France-Morocco-Spain-Belgium co-production follows Hasna and Meriem, two Moroccan women who travel to Andalusia in southern Spain for seasonal work in strawberry farms and confront abusive and degrading working conditions. Marrakchi co-wrote the film with Delphine Agut.
Four films were considered for Morocco’s submission: "La Más Dulce"; Zhor Fassi Fihri’s "L’Homme des signes" ("The Man of Signs"); Saloua El Gouni’s "The Wound"; and Mohamed Nadif’s "L’Héritier des secrets" ("The Heir of Secrets"). The committee was chaired by CCM representative Tariq Khalami and included filmmaker Laila Triqui, cinema exhibitor Mounia Layadi, distributor Siham El Faydi, actor Saadia Ladib, film critic and screenwriter Said El Mezouari, and producer-director Raouf Sebbahi.
Morocco’s submission for the previous Oscar cycle was Maryam Touzani’s "Calle Málaga," which was selected for the 98th Academy Awards after its 2025 premiere in the Venice Spotlight section of the Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The Morocco-France-Spain-Germany-Belgium co-production won the section’s Armani Beauty Audience Award on 6 September 2025.
"Calle Málaga" was subsequently confirmed among the films eligible for the 98th Academy Awards, but did not advance to the 15-title International Feature Film shortlist announced on 16 December 2025. The shortlist included one African submission, Tunisia’s "The Voice of Hind Rajab," which later received an Oscar nomination.
The Academy permits each approved country or region to submit one film for consideration in the International Feature Film category. Entries for the 99th Academy Awards are due by 5 p.m. Pacific Time on 30 September 2026. The 15-film shortlist is scheduled for 15 December 2026, with nominations to follow on 21 January 2027.
Source: africanfilmpress.com