Gaza-born twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s “Once Upon a Time in Gaza,” their riff on the Western genre that premiered last year in Un Certain Regard, won best film at the 10th Critics Awards for Arab Films during an event held on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.
“Once Upon a Time in Gaza,” which last year won the Un Certain Regard best directing prize, follows a young student named Yahya and a charismatic drug dealer named Osama who, while peddling drugs out of a falafel restaurant, are forced to grapple with a corrupt cop who has a big ego.
Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine 36,” which reconstructs the largely unknown Palestinian revolt against British colonial rule in 1936, scored the best screenplay award for Jacir and the best cinematography prize for Hélène Louvart.
The best director prize went to “All That’s Left of You” by Palestinian-American multi-hyphenate Cherien Dabis, a sweeping epic featuring three generations of Palestinians that takes its cue from a Palestinian teen confronting Israeli soldiers at a West Bank protest.
Organized by the Arab Cinema Centre (ACC), the Critics’ Awards For Arab Films that highlight the best achievements in Arab filmmaking over the past year, were voted on by 307 Arab and international critics from 75 countries this year.
