release date August 22 2021
Gaza Mon Amour Opens the Amman International Film Festival
Gaza Mon Amour by twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser will open the second edition of the Amman International Film Festival (Aug.23-Aug.31). The film will have two screenings during the festival in a special section called "Franco-Arab Rendez-Vous"; one during the opening night and another on Tuesday, August 24 at Taj cinemas. Furthermore, Gaza Mon Amour is slated to release at Jordan’s theatres soon.

Commenting on that, Nada Domani, the Festival’s Director, said: " We have chosen Gaza Mon Amour to open the second edition of the Amman International Film Festival for the message it sends as well as its great cinematic value. The audience in Jordan is interested in what happens in Palestine and is very sympathetic towards the people in Gaza. The film is light-hearted and shows that love and life are stronger than war and plights. We are glad that many scenes in the film were shot in Jordan with a local cast and crew. Additionally, a number of french parties were involved in the film’s production. This year, the Amman International Film festival hosts the Franco-Arab Film Festival."

While Moshira Farouk Bahar, the Culture and Theatrical Distribution Manager of MAD Solutions, said: " We are glad to continue working with the Amman International Film Festival as well as the Franco-Arab Film Festival. Also, we are delighted that Gaza Mon Amour will be opening the Amman festival. It’s one of the most remarkable Palestinian films that we have worked on recently. It enjoyed great success in Arab and global festivals and has been commercially released recently in Egypt. Since the film will be released soon in Jordan, we have chosen the Amman International Film Festival to witness the film’s launch in Jordan."

Organized under the umbrella of the Royal Film Commission – Jordan, the Amman International Film Festival is Jordan’s first international film festival that showcases Arab and international films. With a main focus on emerging filmmakers, AIFF seeks works that manifest artistic boldness, strength of form, and originality in the use of the medium of film.

Recently, Gaza Mon Amour nabbed the Critics’ Choice Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland. The film was Palestine's official submission to the Oscars, and it received the Best Actress award and the Best Feature film at the Critics Awards for Arab Films, an initiative organized by the Arab Cinema Center. The film also won multiple international awards, including the Best Actor Prize for Salim Daw at the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, the NETPAC award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Best Film award and Special Mention at the Cairo International Film Festival, the Best Actor award at the Antalya Film Festival and the Best Film and Best Script awards at the Valladolid International Film Festival.

The film landed its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival and took part in several prestigious international film festivals including, The Chicago International Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, and Berlinale Co-Production Market, 2019.

Gaza, today, 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 discover the existence of this mysterious treasure, troubles start for Issa…Will he succeed to declare his love to Siham?

Directed by the Nasser brothers, 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 is produced by the French company Les Films du Tambour (delegate producer), in a co-production with Riva Filmproduktion (Germany), ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel and in collaboration with ARTE (Germany), Ukbar Filmes (Portugal), Made in Palestine Project (Palestine), and Jordan Pioneers. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution in the Arab world.

Twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser were born in Gaza, Palestine, in 1988. They studied Fine Arts at Al-Aqsa University and became passionate about cinema and paintings. They directed Condom Lead (15 min, 2013), which got selected in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2013. Their first feature film, Dégradé (85 min, 2014), made its world premiere at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique 2015, and also screened at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Gaza Mon Amour is their second feature film.
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