Following its triple win at the latest Cairo International Film Festival, the acclaimed dramedy ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA by twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser will screen for a wider audience in Cairo on February 4th.
 
Screenings will take place at Plaza Cinemas (Thursday 5th, 9:30 pm, Screen 4; Friday 6th, 1:30 pm, Comfort 1; Saturday 7th, 6:45 pm, Screen 1), Nile Cinemas (Thursday 5th, 9:30 pm, Screen 6; Friday 6th, 6:45 pm, Screen 6), and Arkan Cima (Friday 6th, 6:45 pm, Screen 6; Saturday 7th, 9:30 pm, Screen 6,).
 
This special release is part of CineMAD, a pioneering three‑month pan‑Arab film season launched by Cairo‑based MAD Solutions to bring festival‑celebrated Arab films to cinemas across the region.
 
Hailed by The National’s William Mulally as “a powerful ode to Palestinian resilience,” ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA, set in 2007 Gaza, explores the gripping story of Yahya, a young student who forges a friendship with Osama, a charismatic restaurant owner with a big heart. Together, they begin peddling drugs while delivering falafel sandwiches, but they are soon forced to grapple with a corrupt cop and his oversized ego.
 
Emphasizing that their vision goes beyond stereotypes often associated with Gaza, the Nasser brothers stated: “We want to present an authentic portrait of our city, one that’s free from the stereotypes and exaggerations that have become the accepted global narrative.”
 
Previously, the film world premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Best Director Award. Since then, it has toured over 20 international festivals across more than 10 countries, including Warsaw, Thessaloniki, São Paulo, Rome, and Toronto, where it opened the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, and Cairo, where it earned Best Director, Best Actor for Majd Eid, and Best Arab Feature Film.
 
An international co-production between France, Palestine, Germany, and Portugal with Qatar and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the film boasts a stellar cast that includes Nader Abd Alhay, who is known for his role as Sami in FARAH, which is streaming now on Netflix; Ramzi Maqdisi (GHOST HUNTING, awarded Best Documentary at the Berlinale), Majd Eid (Cannes Winning title HOLY SPIDER); DOP Christophe Graillot (RIDE ABOVE) and editor Sophie Reine, who won the Best Editing Award at the César Awards for her work in THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
 
MAD Distribution manages the film’s distribution and sales across the Arab world, The Party Film Sales oversees international sales, while Dulac Distribution handles the French distribution rights.
 
Directed by the Nasser Brothers from a screenplay co-written with Amer Nasser and Marie Legrand, ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA is produced by Rani Massalha and Marie Legrand from Les Films du Tambour and Muriel Merlin of Lyly Productions.
 
Additionally, the film was co-produced with Rise Studios (Amanda Turnbull and Ziad Srouji), Made in Palestine Project (Rashid Abdelhamid), Red Balloon Film (Dorothe Benemeier), Riva Filmproduktion (Mickael Eckelt and Lena Zimmerhackel), Ukbar Filmes (Pandora Da Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola), and executive produced by Jordan Pioneers Multi Media & Slate Films Services (Khaled Haddad) in association with A. A. Films (Ahmed Amer), Cocoon Films (Sawsan Asfari), Radio e Televisao De Portugal, and Kometa (Edyta Janczak-Hiriart).
 
Twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser were born in Gaza in 1988 and started their filmmaking careers with their Cannes-selected short CONDOM LEAD before making their first feature film, DÉGRADÉ, which premiered in the 68th Cannes’ Critics’ Week. Their second feature, GAZA MON AMOUR, premiered in the Orrizonti Section of the 77th Venice International Film Festival and was Palestine’s submission to the 93rd Academy Awards.