- Amid ongoing Gulf War, two films each from Iran and Israel are competing at the Oscars 2026
- Iranian movies are "It Was Just An Accident" and "Cutting Through Rocks".
- Israeli films are "Children No More" and "Butchers Stain".
Close to 2,000 have been killed in Iran and Israel and the neighbouring UAE, Lebanon, and across the Gulf and Indian Ocean after Iran retaliated to US-Israel's coordinated strikes which killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The shadow of the ongoing Gulf War, now in its 16th day, looms large over the 98th Academy Awards.
In a few hours from now, the Oscars 2026 red carpet will be teeming with fashionable cinema personalities from around the world dressed to the nines, while also condemning the ongoing war. Will any of the talent from the participating countries win big at the awards ceremony and get to send a message across the globe from the podium?
Two films each from Iran and Israel are up for an Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards, none competing in the same category.
Here's a look at the proverbial conflict set to unravel at Oscars 2026:
Iranian Films At Oscars 2026
1. It Was Just An Accident By Jafar Panahi
Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi shot feature film It Was Just An Accident in secret and now the film is on arguably the world's biggest film award platform that also happens to be in the US, a bittersweet moment for the director as his country is being torn apart by war and unrest. Jafar Panahi found out about the US-Israel strikes on Iran while he was on his way from Barcelona to New York to shoot for The Daily Show.
This is also the first time that the director's work has been recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, the Los Angeles-based body behind the Oscars. It Was Just An Accident, billed as "a searing moral thriller", is nominated for two Oscars. The road-trip revenge story is competing in the categories of Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay. It is the same film for which he won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last May and was nominated for four Golden Globes in January.
For It Was Just An Accident, Jafar Panahi, 65, drew from his experience at Tehran's Evin Prison, where he has served repeatedly on charges of dissent against the Iranian government. The cast includes Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Delnaz Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi, and Georges Hashemzadeh.
The director, who is known for his contribution to post-1979-Revolution Iranian cinema, will likely face imprisonment again whenever he returns to Iran. He was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison in December 2025 for "propaganda activities" against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ironically, he was in the US promoting his Oscar-nominated film.
If It Was Just An Accident scoops an Oscar, it would be the third Academy Award for Iran in the Best International Film category. Previously, The Salesman (2017) and A Separation (2012), both directed by Asghar Farhadi, won the award.
Other Best International Feature nominees: The Secret Agent (Mexico), The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), Sirat (Spain), and Sentimental Value (Norway).
2. Cutting Through Rocks By Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki
Cutting Through Rocks, directed by Iran-born Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki, has been nominated for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar. The US-based directors, who got married after they started working on the film, won the Grand Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It is the first Oscar nomination for an Iranian documentary.
The documentary follows Sara Shahverdi, the first elected councilwoman of a remote Iranian village. "Sara Shahverdi fearlessly breaks patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara's intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil," reads the official logline of Cutting Through Rocks.
Before the war began, Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki spoke to CNN.
"It was not an easy journey for Shahverdi, but these small sparks of hope keep me hopeful about what the future can bring," said Sara Khaki.
"The only thing that gives me hope about the future of our country is its people - people like Sara Shahverdi in the film, and people like Sara Khaki behind the camera, who share the same mission of bringing change to their communities," added Mohammadreza Eyni.
Other Best Documentary Feature nominees: The Alabama Solution, The Perfect Neighbor, Mr Nobody Against Putin, and Come See Me in the Good Light.
Israeli Films At Oscars 2026
1. Children No More: "Were and Are Gone" By Hilla Medalia
Children No More: "Were and Are Gone", directed by Hilla Medalia, is nominated for a Best Documentary Short Oscar. The observational short film chronicles "a vigil that began in March 2025 with a handful of protestors standing silently in a public square in Tel Aviv, each holding a photo of a child killed in Gaza" following Israel's strikes on Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The armed conflict, which is in its third year, started when Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Out of over 75,000 reported deaths in the Gaza War, close to 20,000 are children.
Children No More: "Were and Are Gone" dares to try to awaken "compassion" in the hearts of Israelis.
Other Best Documentary Short nominees: Other All the Empty Rooms, Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death Of Brent Renaud, The Devil Is Busy, and Perfectly a Strangeness.
2. Butcher's Stain By Meyer Levinson-Blount
Directed by Meyer Levinson-Blount, Butcher's Stain is a Best Live Action Short Oscar nominee. It follows Samir, Palestinian butcher working at an Israeli supermarket.
One day, when Samir is accused of tearing down the Israeli hostage posters in the break room, he sets out to prove his innocence in order to keep the job he desperately needs.
Meyer Levinson-Blount also stars in Butcher's Stain, which is fronted by Omar Samir.
Other Best Live Action Short nominees: Two People Exchanging Saliva, Singers, Jane Austen's Period Drama, and A Friend of Dorothy.
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