'Gaza Mon Amour' has also been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins today and will go on till September 20.
Palestinian film Gaza Mon Amour received wide critical acclaim during its world premiere at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. In the presence of its directors Tarzan and Arab Nasser, along with Salim Daw and Hiam Abbass, the film received a five-minute standing ovation after its screening.
The film revolves around the present-day Gaza. Sixty-year-old fisherman Issa is secretly in love with Siham, a woman who works as a dressmaker at the market. Finally determined to propose, Issa discovers an ancient statue of Apollo in his fishing net, which he decides to hide at home. When local authorities find out about this mysterious treasure, troubles begin for Issa.
The film has been praised by international film critics such as Fabien Lemercier on Cineuropa who called it “a little gem of (seeming) simplicity and intelligence”. Film critic Jordan Mintzer said the film “feels closest to the witty, surreal works of fellow Palestinian Elie Suleiman”. Jonathan Romney described the film as “altogether low-key but highly likeable … with dashes of magic realism and absurd comedy leavening the mix”.
Gaza Mon Amour has also been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins today and will go on till September 20, marking the only Arab entry at the festival this year. The film will also receive five screenings during the festival.
Gaza Mon Amour features an all-star cast, including Salim Daw, Hiam Abbass, Maisa Abdelhadi, Georges Iskandar, Hitham Al Omari, and Manal Awad. The film was officially selected at the 2019 Berlinale Co-Production Market.
The film is produced by the French company Les Films du Tambour (delegate producer), in a France- Germany-Portugal- Palestine-Qatar co-production with Riva Filmproduktion (Germany), ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel in collaboration with ARTE (Germany), Ukbar Filmes (Portugal), Made in Palestine Project (Palestine), and Jordan Pioneers. The film is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions.
The film received the support of Eurimages, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNCI), Filmförderungsanstalt, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, L’Aide aux Cinémas du Monde – Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée – Institut Français, and co-production grants for Franco-Portuguese Films from the Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual, RTP – Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, and the Doha Film Institute, in association with Versatile, Dulac Distribution, and Alamode Film.
Twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser were born in Gaza, Palestine, in 1988. Their notable works include Condom Lead (15 min, 2013) and Dégradé (85 min, 2014).
