Hijra is a film defined by its artistic precision and sense of place and it’s because of these standout qualities that it was selected as Saudi Arabia’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. Its narrative begins quietly, tracing the bonds between a grandmother (Khayriya Nazmi) and her two granddaughters (Lamar Faden and Raghad Bokhari) before expanding into a broader reflection on memory. When one of the girls disappears, the film shifts into a study of how people navigate loss and transition, guided less by dramatic incident than by the emotional landscapes that the characters must cross.

The story follows Sitti and her two granddaughters, Janna and Sarah, as they travel from southern Saudi Arabia to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage in 2001. Their jou

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