'Soon Palestine will be free': Gaza directors dedicate Cannes win to their country

Twin Palestinian directors Tarzan and Arab Nasser have dedicated their best director win to the people of Palestine, especially those living in their homeland of Gaza. The maverick filmmakers' crime thriller, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section on Monday.

"To every Palestinian, your life matters, your voice matters. Soon Palestinian will be free, Insha'Allah," Tarzan Nasser said on stage on Friday.

Receiving the award, announced a day before the main Palme d'Or, Arab Nasser recalled a conversation with their mother and how they hesitated to return to Cannes in the midst of the ongoing war.

"She said, 'No, no, no, you have to go. You have to talk to them. Tell them to stop the genocide. We cannot carry on anymore'," he said.

The twins, who have been living in Jordan since 2012, are regulars at the festival. Their previous work includes Condom Lead, the first-ever Palestinian short to compete at Cannes in 2013, as well as their 2015 debut feature Degrade and 2020's Gaza Mon Amour.

Once Upon A Time in Gaza begins in 2007, the year Hamas took over Gaza, and follows drug dealer Yahya (Nader Abd Alhay), who pines for a better life outside Gaza. After an incident with a corrupt cop, the story fast-forwards to 2009, when Hamas has fully taken control, and Yahya is cast in a cheap-looking TV series commissioned by the group about a militant who died a hero in the fight against Israel.

In his review of the film, The National's William Mullally called it "a layered, self-reflexive meditation on identity, resistance, and the cost of survival".

The Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes recognises films with unusual styles and non-traditional stories.

The decision to include a film set in Gaza in the Cannes Film Festival's official selection came at a particularly urgent time Arab Nasser said earlier in the week.

Israel's military campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated Gaza.

"There is a need to give a platform to the voice of Palestine, the Palestinian story, the Gaza story, in an international festival like the Cannes Film Festival, with a wide audience from all over the world," he told Reuters.

The film's name was meant to capture the rhythm of Gaza at a time where there is no stability or continuity, he said.

"Now we refer to all of Gaza as 'once upon a time,' because Israel destroyed Gaza from north to south and has damaged all means of life," Nasser said.

"All the memories, all the incidents that one has in one's memory of this place, have all vanished, Israel has destroyed it completely."