Dégradé

Twelve women of various ages and from different backgrounds are trapped in a beauty salon while a violent situation unfolds right outside the door, involving Hamas, a stolen lion, and a local gang.

The clientele in the salon is varied: an upcoming bride, a believer, a lonely woman in her forties, an arrogant petit bourgeois, and a cheerful housewife, to name a few. Outside, the situation becomes more and more tense as a local gang has stolen a lion from a zoo in Egypt – smuggled through tunnels. Hamas, which governs Gaza, is very displeased with this. Complicating matters for the salon's clients is that one of the gang members is the boyfriend of one of the salon's employees.

Dégradé boasts a fantastic cast, including Hiam Abbass in a key role. The film was shot concurrently with the war in 2014, and although it's hard not to think that the situation in Gaza at the time informs the film, directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser have chosen to make a film that primarily deals with individuals rather than the conflict surrounding them.

«The Nassers transform this typical haven for female solidarity and turn it into a danger zone with animosity threatening to bubble over into all-out warfare.»
– Hanna Flint, The New Arab –

Red.

Director

Palestinian twins Arab and Tarzan Nasser (b. 1988) have directed several films. They broke through with the short films Colorful Journey (2010) and Condom Lead (2013). Later they made the feature films Dégradé (2015) and Gaza mon amour (2020). Gaza mon amour was the Palestinian entry for the Academy Awards in 2021.

This film is part of