DUBAI: Saudi feature film “Scales,” which was submitted to this year’s Academy Awards as Saudi Arabia’s contender, is now available to stream on Netflix, following an award-winning festival season and cinema releases in Saudi Arabia and the US. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle Directed by Shahd Amin, the fantasy film, made in the UAE, tells the story of Hayat, a young girl living in a village with a tradition of sacrificing female children to mysterious sea-dwelling creatures. When her time comes, she decides to break with tradition and forge her own path. After premiering in 2019, “Scales,” produced by the UAE’s Image Nation Abu Dhabi, has been shown at more than a dozen competitive global festivals, winning the prestigious Verona Film Club award for innovative filmmaking at the Venice International Film Festival, Best Picture at Singapore International Film Festival and the Best Film and Best Actress awards at the Saudi Film Festival. Ameen — known for her short film “Eye & Mermaid,” which premiered at the Dubai Film Festival in 2013 — said that the film is an artistic comment on patriarchal societies. “‘Scales’ tells a visceral story about growing up as a woman in a patriarchal society, offering an allegorical take on a universal theme that will resonate with audiences around the world,” Ameen previously said in a statement.