Once Upon A Time In Gaza Wins Best Film at Arab Critics
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- Once Upon A Time In Gaza won Best Film at the 10th Critics' Awards for Arab Films; the film is set in Gaza in 2007 and had previously won the Best Director prize at Un Certain Regard.
- Palestine 36 won Best Screenplay (Annemarie Jacir) and Best Cinematography (Hélène Louvart) after being nominated in six categories.
- Cherien Dabis took Best Director for All That's Left Of You, while Deborah Christelle Naney (Promised Sky) and Adham Shukr (The Settlement) won Best Actress and Best Actor.
- A record 307 Arab and international critics from 75 countries voted in this year's edition, organized by the Arab Cinema Centre (ACC) and co-founded by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.
- The ceremony is taking place at Cannes' Plage des Palmes, marking the awards' 10th anniversary.
- Vincenzo Bugno received the Game Changer Award for supporting Arab cinema internationally, while Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy was named Personality of the Year.
Why it matters: Palestinian cinema dominated the marquee prizes — Once Upon A Time In Gaza claimed Best Film while Palestine 36 swept screenplay and cinematography — giving Arab Cinema Centre its most visible platform to date. A record 307 critics from 75 countries voted, the highest participation in the awards' 10-year history, underscoring growing international engagement with Arab film.
