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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA, DEAD DOG MAD Solutions sweeps four awards at 46th Cairo International Film Festival
22 November 2025
MAD Solutions celebrated a major victory at the 46th Cairo International Film Festival — held from November 12th to 21st – with two of its titles earning four prestigious awards: The acclaimed dramedy ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA by twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser won Best Arab Feature Film, Best Actor for Majd Eid, and the Silver Pyramid Award for Best Director; and Sarah Francis’ tense Lebanese family drama DEAD DOG received the Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Film in the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition.
Stepping on stage to receive the awards for ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA were Founder of MAD Solutions Alaa Karkouti, co-writer Amer Nasser, producer Rani Massalha, and associate producer Ahmed Amer, the latter two of whom thanked the festival for the recognition and their honor to have had the film premiere in Cairo — the film capital of the region.
Prior to this achievement, DEAD DOG leading actress Chirine Karameh received industry recognition with the Next Generation Award, presented by The Film Verdict during the seventh Cairo Industry Days, held as part of the festival.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA, set in 2007 Gaza, explores the gripping story of Yahya, a young student who forges a friendship with Osama, a charismatic restaurant owner with a big heart. Together, they begin peddling drugs while delivering falafel sandwiches, but they are soon forced to grapple with a corrupt cop and his oversized ego.
Previously, the film world premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Best Director Award. Since then, it has toured over 20 international festivals across more than 10 countries, including Warsaw, Thessaloniki, São Paulo, Rome, and Toronto, where it opened the Toronto Palestine Film Festival.
An international co-production between France, Palestine, Germany, and Portugal with Qatar and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the film boasts a stellar cast that includes Nader Abd Alhay, who is known for his role as Sami in FARAH, which is streaming now on Netflix; Ramzi Maqdisi (GHOST HUNTING, awarded Best Documentary at the Berlinale), Majd Eid (Cannes Winning title HOLY SPIDER); DOP Christophe Graillot (RIDE ABOVE) and editor Sophie Reine, who won the Best Editing Award at the César Awards for her work in THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
Directed by the Nasser Brothers from a screenplay co-written with Amer Nasser and Marie Legrand, ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA is produced by Rani Massalha and Marie Legrand from Les Films du Tambour and Muriel Merlin of Lyly Productions.
Additionally, the film was co-produced with Rise Studios (Amanda Turnbull and Ziad Srouji), Made in Palestine Project (Rashid Abdelhamid), Red Balloon Film (Dorothe Benemeier), Riva Filmproduktion (Mickael Eckelt and Lena Zimmerhackel), Ukbar Filmes (Pandora Da Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola), and executive produced by Jordan Pioneers Multi Media & Slate Films Services (Khaled Haddad) in association with A. A. Films (Ahmed Amer), Cocoon Films (Sawsan Asfari), Radio e Televisao De Portugal, and Kometa (Edyta Janczak-Hiriart).
Meanwhile, DEAD DOG follows Aida, a woman who drives up to the Lebanese mountains and unlocks an empty family house. Only Walid, her husband, who has been living abroad for years, is not expecting to find her there. Temporarily reunited in the same space, they face the status of their lives together and apart. Is there anything left to be saved? Dead Dog is a measured dissection of a marriage that is simultaneously breathing and decomposing.
The film previously world premiered to critical acclaim in the Harbor program of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and has since screened at the Lebanese Film Festival in France, the Festival Internacional de Cine de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, and the Sarajevo Film Festival, with an upcoming screening set for the São Paulo Film Festival.
A co-production between Lebanon, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, DEAD DOG is written and directed by Sarah Francis, who also produces the film with Lara Abou Saifan, along with production companies Placeless Films, and the Red Sea Film Foundation, with Marine Vaillant on as a co-producer.
It stars Chirine Karameh, alongside Nida Wakim, with cinematography by Mark Khalife; editing by Zeina Aboul Hosn; sound by Ralph Atallah, Victor Bresse, and Lama Sawaya; and music by Rabih Gebeile.
Stepping on stage to receive the awards for ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA were Founder of MAD Solutions Alaa Karkouti, co-writer Amer Nasser, producer Rani Massalha, and associate producer Ahmed Amer, the latter two of whom thanked the festival for the recognition and their honor to have had the film premiere in Cairo — the film capital of the region.
Prior to this achievement, DEAD DOG leading actress Chirine Karameh received industry recognition with the Next Generation Award, presented by The Film Verdict during the seventh Cairo Industry Days, held as part of the festival.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA, set in 2007 Gaza, explores the gripping story of Yahya, a young student who forges a friendship with Osama, a charismatic restaurant owner with a big heart. Together, they begin peddling drugs while delivering falafel sandwiches, but they are soon forced to grapple with a corrupt cop and his oversized ego.
Previously, the film world premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Best Director Award. Since then, it has toured over 20 international festivals across more than 10 countries, including Warsaw, Thessaloniki, São Paulo, Rome, and Toronto, where it opened the Toronto Palestine Film Festival.
An international co-production between France, Palestine, Germany, and Portugal with Qatar and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the film boasts a stellar cast that includes Nader Abd Alhay, who is known for his role as Sami in FARAH, which is streaming now on Netflix; Ramzi Maqdisi (GHOST HUNTING, awarded Best Documentary at the Berlinale), Majd Eid (Cannes Winning title HOLY SPIDER); DOP Christophe Graillot (RIDE ABOVE) and editor Sophie Reine, who won the Best Editing Award at the César Awards for her work in THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
Directed by the Nasser Brothers from a screenplay co-written with Amer Nasser and Marie Legrand, ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA is produced by Rani Massalha and Marie Legrand from Les Films du Tambour and Muriel Merlin of Lyly Productions.
Additionally, the film was co-produced with Rise Studios (Amanda Turnbull and Ziad Srouji), Made in Palestine Project (Rashid Abdelhamid), Red Balloon Film (Dorothe Benemeier), Riva Filmproduktion (Mickael Eckelt and Lena Zimmerhackel), Ukbar Filmes (Pandora Da Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola), and executive produced by Jordan Pioneers Multi Media & Slate Films Services (Khaled Haddad) in association with A. A. Films (Ahmed Amer), Cocoon Films (Sawsan Asfari), Radio e Televisao De Portugal, and Kometa (Edyta Janczak-Hiriart).
Meanwhile, DEAD DOG follows Aida, a woman who drives up to the Lebanese mountains and unlocks an empty family house. Only Walid, her husband, who has been living abroad for years, is not expecting to find her there. Temporarily reunited in the same space, they face the status of their lives together and apart. Is there anything left to be saved? Dead Dog is a measured dissection of a marriage that is simultaneously breathing and decomposing.
The film previously world premiered to critical acclaim in the Harbor program of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and has since screened at the Lebanese Film Festival in France, the Festival Internacional de Cine de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, and the Sarajevo Film Festival, with an upcoming screening set for the São Paulo Film Festival.
A co-production between Lebanon, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, DEAD DOG is written and directed by Sarah Francis, who also produces the film with Lara Abou Saifan, along with production companies Placeless Films, and the Red Sea Film Foundation, with Marine Vaillant on as a co-producer.
It stars Chirine Karameh, alongside Nida Wakim, with cinematography by Mark Khalife; editing by Zeina Aboul Hosn; sound by Ralph Atallah, Victor Bresse, and Lama Sawaya; and music by Rabih Gebeile.
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