Sirât: A Father’s Love Story Earns Cannes Jury Prize and Becomes Spain’s Official Oscar Submission

Sirât is a 2025 drama film directed by Spanish filmmaker Óliver Laxe. The film follows a father and son who are on a journey in southern Morocco to find their missing daughter and sister at a rave. The film stars Sergi López and Bruno Núñez Arjona. The film received critical acclaim, sharing the Cannes Jury Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. On 17 September 2025, it was announced that Sirât was selected as Spain’s submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

A man named Luis (Sergi López) and his young son Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) travel through the mountains of southern Morocco. They are searching for Luis’s daughter and Esteban’s sister, Marina, who has been missing for several months. Their journey takes them to various raves and parties in the region, as they follow leads in the hopes of finding her.

Sirât is Óliver Laxe’s fourth feature film, following his previous works Fire Will Come, Mimosas, and You All Are Captains. The film was produced by a team of prominent figures in Spanish cinema, including Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, and Esther Garcia for their El Deseo banner. Other producers include Xavi Font and Laxe for Filmes Da Ermida, Oriol Maymo for Uri Films, Mani Mortazavi and Andrea Queralt for 4A4 Productions, and Domingo Corral for Movistar Plus+.

The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Prize. Following its success, Neon acquired the distribution rights for North America. BTeam Pictures released the film in Spain in June. In September 2025, Spain’s film academy chose Sirât from a shortlist that included Eva Libertad’s Sorda and Carla Simón’s Romería to be the country’s official submission for the Academy Awards.

Image: Wikipedia