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 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, held on the Croisette from May 13 to 24, 2025. The first films presented in and out of competition were revealed on Thursday April 10, 2025. [Read more]
Cannes Festival 2025: Films in the Official Selection
