'Once Upon a Time in Gaza' is an international co-production between France, Palestine, Germany and Portugal, with additional support from Qatar and Jordan.
Palestinian filmmakers Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s dark comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Gaza is set to have its Arab World premiere as part of the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition of the 46th Cairo International Film Festival. Ahead of its premiere, MAD Solutions has also unveiled the official trailer for the film.
Palestinian filmmakers Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s dark comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Gaza will make its Arab World premiere in the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition at the 46th Cairo International Film Festival. Ahead of its premiere, MAD Solutions has released the film’s official trailer.
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The trailer opens with a “film within a film,” showing high-energy scenes of car chases, armed Palestinians and dramatic standoffs, before shifting to the main storyline involving a student, a drug dealer and a corrupt police officer. It soon reveals that the student is being encouraged to star in Gaza’s first-ever action movie. Set entirely in Gaza, the preview captures the film’s mix of gritty realism and stylised fiction.
Set in 2007, the story follows Yahya, a young student who befriends Osama, a warm-hearted restaurant owner. The pair begins delivering falafel sandwiches while selling drugs on the side, only to find themselves entangled with a corrupt police officer whose ego and power threaten to upend their lives.
The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where the Nasser brothers won the Best Director Award. Since then, it has screened at more than 20 festivals worldwide, including editions in Warsaw, Thessaloniki, São Paulo, Rome and Toronto, where it opened the Toronto Palestine Film Festival.
An international co-production spanning France, Palestine, Germany and Portugal, with additional support from Qatar and Jordan, the film features an acclaimed cast. Nader Abd Alhay stars alongside Ramzi Maqdisi, Majd Eid, cinematographer Christophe Graillot and editor Sophie Reine, a César Award winner.
Directed by the Nasser brothers from a script co-written with Amer Nasser and Marie Legrand, the film is produced by Rani Massalha and Legrand of Les Films du Tambour and Muriel Merlin of Lyly Productions. It is co-produced with Rise Studios, the Made in Palestine Project, Red Balloon Film, Riva Filmproduktion, Ukbar Filmes and executive producers from Jordan Pioneers Multi Media and Slate Films Services, among others.
Distribution across the Arab world is managed by MAD Distribution, with international sales handled by The Party Film Sales and French distribution overseen by Dulac Distribution. The project received support from institutions including Aide aux Cinémas du Monde – CNC, Eurimages, the Doha Film Institute, the Jordan Film Fund and Ciclic Région Centre-Val de Loire.
Twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, born in Gaza in 1988, launched their careers with the Cannes-selected short Condom Lead, followed by their first feature Dégradé, which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week. Their second feature, Gaza Mon Amour, debuted in Venice’s Orizzonti section and became Palestine’s submission to the 93rd Academy Awards.
