”Eagles of the republic” is the third part of Tarik Saleh's ”Cairo trilogy” and a kind of sequel to ”Boy from heaven", which became Sweden's Oscar contribution in 2022.
Fares Fares plays the lead role as one of Egypt's leading actors. When he is forced to participate in a tribute film to the country's president, he is thrown into a complicated political game.
”A dream”
For Tarik Saleh, it's ”a dream” to get to represent Sweden in Oscar contexts, something he never dared to believe in as a young filmmaker. However, he feels a certain nervousness about how the film will be received in the USA:
But I have a certain obligation to highlight the atrocities that are going on in the world, even if you would step on a certain person's toes, with too much spray tan, he says.
Now, an intense Oscar campaign awaits Saleh. First, the film will be shown at the festival in Toronto, and then it will be marketed in the USA. Saleh, who has worked a lot in the USA, will now activate his Hollywood network.
It's a lot about showing the film. Then you mingle a lot with academy members, a bit like a political campaign. And I don't directly have a black belt in mingling, he says.
Difficult
To get through the narrow eye of the needle to the statuette is difficult, but not impossible, Saleh believes:
It's super tough competition, it always is. And it's a lot about who has money, and it's fun to be the underdog in that way. But I don't want it to be easy – I want it to be almost impossible.
Saleh's film was nominated along with the documentary ”Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989” by Göran Hugo Olsson and Lisa Langseth's upcoming romantic comedy ”The dance club”.
Sweden has a chance at the Oscar also through Norway's contribution ”Sentimental value” by Joachim Trier. There, Stellan Skarsgård plays one of the major roles.
”Eagles of the republic” will have its Swedish cinema premiere on November 14.
The Hollywood Academy will make a first selection among each country's Oscar contributions on December 16, and on January 22, the final five nominees will be presented. The 2026 Oscar gala will take place on March 15.
Mikael Forsell/TT
Sara Haldert/TT
Fact: Recent years' Swedish Oscar contributions
TT
2016: "A man named Ove" (dir: Hannes Holm), 2017: "The square" (Ruben Östlund), 2018: "Border" (Ali Abbasi), 2019: "And then we danced" (Levan Akin), 2020: "Charter" (Amanda Kernell), 2021: "Tigers" (Ronnie Sandahl), 2022: "Boy from heaven" (Tarik Saleh), 2023: "Opponent" (Milad Alami), 2024: ”The last journey” (Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson), 2025: ”Eagles of the republic” (Tarik Saleh).
”The square” is the latest film to be finally nominated in the category. The last Swedish film to receive the award was Ingmar Bergman's ”Fanny & Alexander” in 1983.
