Palestinian filmmaking duo Tarzan and Arab Nasser will present their new film Once Upon a Time in Gaza in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival 2025. This new feature film is a continuation of the brothers ' work exploring the social and political realities of Gaza through a fictional approach.
It's in this section of the Cannes Festival, which celebrates young auteur and discovery cinema, that the Nasser brothers will be making their return to the Croisette - after Dégradé, their first feature presented at Critics' Week in 2015 -, accompanied by their actors Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid and Ramzi Maqdisi.
On the culturedepalestine website, you can read this note from the filmmakers:"Once upon a time in Gaza, there were three characters guided by their common survival instinct and victims of their common sense of pride: Yahia, the weakling, Osama, the reckless one, and Sami, the sycophantic hypocrite. Like all classic heroes of the silver screen, the three characters see their paths cross, leading to a common destiny that follows the path of a modern Western. Friendship, revenge and dark humor are the main ingredients of this thought-provoking film. Once Upon a Time in Gaza is a film about narratives, about each of our lost truths, leaving others, who know only part of that truth, to tell themselves whatever they please."
Once Upon a Time in Gaza will be unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival 2025. The release date in French cinemas is not yet known.
Synopsis: The friendship between a young student and a drug dealer as they sell drugs in a falafel restaurant.
Cannes Festival 2025: Films in the Official Selection
Discover the official selection for the 78th Cannes Film Festival, held on the Croisette from May 13 to 24, 2025. [Read more]
Cannes Festival 2025: Films in the Official Selection
