Arab Nasser had a feeling that he may win a top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. But even so, he had considered skipping the ceremony.
The Palestinian filmmaker's mother is in North Gaza, which is currently suffering a barrage of Israeli air strikes. On Thursday, after days of trying, he was able to speak to her. As happy as she was to see her son’s face, as proud as she was of his latest achievements, she had tears in her eyes.
Arab recounted the story on stage on Friday, as he accepted the Un Certain Regard award for best directors along with his brother Tarzan: “My mother said, ‘I’m not crying because of you. I’m looking now at the three kids of your sister. They are starving. Go to Cannes – tell them to stop the genocide.’”
That is the urgency with which Arab accepted the award for his and his brother’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Gaza. It is the same urgency he’s had since the day they decided to pursue the project. The world needs stories such as this, he believes, and this moment needs to be seen through the eyes of the Gazan people.
“This is the time of Gaza,” Arab tells The National. “They need to show something about us. And we made a very human film – not a film about heroes – because the world needs to see our humanity.
“Of course, it’s important for us as creatives to be in a festival such as Cannes. It’s a dream of any director in the world. But as a Palestinian, it means something different.”
As Arab suggests, there are no heroes in his latest film. It follows three men from 2007 to 2009 in the Gaza Strip, each struggling to endure the harsh circumstances created by the Israeli occupation. One is a young student named Yahya, taken under the wing of a charming drug dealer named Osama. Another is a corrupt cop named Abou Sami, whose feud with Osama turns deadly.
But it is far from an ordinary crime story – instead a layered, self-reflexive meditation on identity, resistance and the cost of survival.
“These are people who are victims of occupation. And they accept unacceptable conditions because they have no other options and they cannot be judged for that.
“There are many things we are trying to say in this film. But if you ask me to name one thing, it’s the humanity of Gaza. It’s the daily life of two million people who have lived inside a cage since 2007. And nothing can justify what’s happened to them.”
Arab and Tarzan first gained international attention in 2010 with their poster series Gaza Wood, for which the two brothers turned the names of Israel’s military operations in Gaza into fictional film posters. This is their third feature film after Degrade in 2015 and Gaza Mon Amour in 2020. Both garnered international acclaim.
The idea for Once Upon a Time in Gaza came to them in 2015. It was originally intended as an ode to the spaghetti Westerns and crime films that made them fall in love with cinema to begin with. After years of work, they finished the script on October 6, 2023. Once the war began the next day, they lost all motivation to continue the project.
“For a while, I lost my belief in the art of cinema. I don’t want to have to justify my humanity to the world all the time, only for the world to reply with guilt, and nothing will change,” says Arab.
“But after five months, we were tired of waiting for bad news all the time. And we believed this was the perfect film to show the world what’s happening in Gaza – what life was like before the war, the siege and the genocide.”
Before October 7, 2023, funding for the film was already secured and a team was in place to bring the project to fruition. But when plans restarted, Arab and Tarzan found that many who had previously been committed were unwilling to continue.
“Most people quit the film,” says Arab. “We got more partners, and then they quit. The money we’d secured started to disappear. It’s a miracle we got this film made. But we succeeded because everyone – from the actors to the cinematographer to the editor – believed in this film. I would have sold my kidney to make it and so would they. That’s why we succeeded – and that’s why were able to bring this film to Cannes.”
It wasn’t just the crew that supported them – it was the Palestinian people. Filming took place in Palestinian camps in Jordan in mid-2024, and the community was integral from start to finish.
Nader Abd Alhay, who plays Yahya, says: “It wasn’t easy to film at the Palestinian camp in Jordan, but the people there were working with us because they saw this movie as a statement for them. That’s why they were helping.
“They were part of the movie on many levels, and they were welcoming us to do this movie because, by the end, they knew it was going to tell their story.”
Unlike other Palestinian films, such as No Other Land, that aim entirely to educate Western audiences, Once Upon a Time in Gaza is a film equally for insiders and outsiders, referencing historical happenings once Hamas took power and dissecting complexities with nuance.
“But I’m not here to criticise the Gazan people,” Arab says. “I’m telling you a story. Nobody has the legitimacy to criticise the Palestinian people. Nothing could justify what’s happening now in Gaza. Nothing could excuse killing children.”
Ultimately, while the film often takes a tone of black humour – even playing a clip of US President Donald Trump talking about turning Gaza into a tourist destination during the opening credits “for a laugh”, Arab explains – ultimately, its message is hopeful. Because even amid unthinkable devastation, the Palestinian people persevere.
“Right now, when we talk about Gaza, we have to talk about ‘once upon a time’ – because Israel has destroyed everything. But we will rebuild. Life will continue. Our people will stay in Gaza for all time.”
As Arab’s twin brother Tarzan said as they accepted the best directors prize: “To every Palestinian, your life matters, your voice matters. Soon Palestinians will be free, inshallah.”
Listen: Arab stories in the spotlight
