"Barakah Meets Barakah" has been selected by Saudi Arabia as the official selection for the Academy Awards. The film, which is directed by Mahmoud Sabbagh, made its world premiere this year at the Berlin Film Festival in February and received rave reviews. It was the first Saudi Arabian film to premiere at the festival and went on to win the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

"Barakah Meets Barakah" marks Sabbagh's first film and it is slated to be released this fall all over the Middle East. The movie is also slated to make its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival where it is will likely to obtain more buzz and a potential U.S distributor.

"Barakah Meets Barakah" marks the second time Saudi Arabia submits a film to the Academy Awards. The first time was in 2013 when the country submitted "Wadjda," which was universally praised and was seen as a front-runner to win the Oscar. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, was also historical because it was directed by a woman. However, the movie failed to make the January shortlist surprising critics and audiences alike. Sony Pictures Classics distributed that film and it was nominated for the BAFTA award.

Every year multiple countries submit films to compete in the Foreign Language category. This year eight countries have already submitted including Golden Lion winner "From Afar" from Venezuela and Venice Film Festival selection "Tanna" from Australia.

Last year Hungary took home its second Oscar for "Son of Saul" by Laszlo Nemes. That film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was regarded as the front-runner when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Other recent winners include Poland's "Ida," Italy's "The Great Beauty," Iran's "A Separation" and Austria's "Amour."

The deadline for the foreign language category is Oct. 3 with the Academy announcing a list of eligible films later that month. On Jan. 17 the Academy will announce the nine finalists from among the eligible films and on Jan. 24 nominations will be announced. The winner will be announced at the Oscar ceremony on Feb. 26, 2017.

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