El Gouna Film Festival

El Gouna Film Festival
مهرجان الجونة السينمائي
LocationEl Gouna, Egypt
Founded22 September 2017 (2017-09-22)
Founded byNaguib Sawiris, Samih Sawiris, Amr Mansi, Bushra Abdallah Rozza, Kamal Zadeh
Artistic directorAndrew Mohsen
LanguageEgyptian Arabic
English
Websiteelgounafilmfestival.com

The El Gouna Film Festival (GFF; Egyptian Arabic: مهرجان الجونة السينمائي) is an annual film festival held in the Red Sea resort city of El Gouna in Egypt each October. Founded in 2017, the event hosts a number of awards. The festival also runs CineGouna, a brand that provides support to Egyptian and Arab filmmakers.

History

The El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) was co-founded in 2017 by Egyptian telecom billionaire Naguib Sawiris, whose brother Samih built the resort,[1] Amr Mansi,[2] Bushra Abdallah Rozza, and Kamal Zadeh.[3]

Its inaugural event started on 22 September.[4][5] The inaugural artistic director was Intishal Al Timimi, who had previously overseen Arab films at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival until its demise in 2015.[1] The psychological thriller Scary Mother, by Georgian first-time director Ana Urushadze, took the Golden Star, the festival's top feature film competition prize, in 2017.[6][7][8][9] Oscar-winning actor-director Forest Whitaker was feted with a lifetime achievement award.[10]

The fifth iteration of the event was held from 14 October 2021.[4][11]

The festival was cancelled in 2022, after being scheduled to run from 13 to 22 October that year, although its future was not clear.[1] In 2023, Marianne Khoury took over from took over from Amir Ramses as artistic director, but the festival was postponed until December, owing to the Gaza war, and a full festival lineup returned in 2024.[12][1]

Description

The festival is hosted by the El Gouna Convention and Culture Centre, and focuses on storytelling trends, as well as emerging talents from Egypt and the rest of the world,[13] and increased tourism at the resort.[14]

As of 2026, Amr Mansi is executive director, and Andrew Mohsen is artistic director.[3]

CineGouna

CineGouna is a festival brand that covers a number of programs designed to support and empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers, both artistically and financially. As of 2026 there it runs CineGouna Funding, CineGouna Forum, CineGouna Market, CineGouna Emerge, and CineGouna Shorts.[15]

Awards

The following awards are awarded at the festival:

Feature Narrative Competition

  • El Gouna Gold Star for a Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 50,000)
  • El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 25,000)
  • El Gouna Bronze Star Narrative Film (Certificate, Trophy and USD 15,000)
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 20,000)
  • El Gouna Star for Best Actor (Trophy and Certificate)
  • El Gouna Star for Best Actress (Trophy and Certificate)

Feature Documentary Competition

  • El Gouna Gold Star for a Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 30,000)
  • El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 15,000)
  • El Gouna Bronze Star Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 7,500)
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 10,000)

Others

The Arab Critics Awards for European Films is awarded by Arab Cinema Center at El Gouna.[16]

Past award winners

2017

Feature Narrative competition

Documentary competition

Short Film competition

  • Golden Star: Nightshade, Shady El-Hamus
  • Silver Star: Merry-Go-Round, Ruslan Bratov
  • Bronze Star: Mama Bobo, Robin Andelfinger and Ibrahima Seydi
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film: Punchline, Christophe M. Saber[18]

2018

Feature Narrative competition

Feature Documentary competition

Short Film competition

  • Golden Star:Our Song To War, Juanita Onzaga
  • Silver Star:Judgement, Raymund Ribay Gutierrez
  • Bronze Star:Sheikh's Watermelons, Kaouther Ben Hania
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film:EyeBrows, Tamer Ashry[19]

2019 Winners

Feature Narrative competition

Feature Documentary competition

Short Film competition

  • Golden Star:Exam, Sonia K. Haddad
  • Silver Star:Ome, Wassim Geagea
  • Bronze Star:Flesh, Camila Kater
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film:Give Up the Ghost, Zain Duraie
  • Special Jury Mention:16 December, Álvaro Gago Díaz[20]

2021

Feature Narrative competition

Feature Documentary competition

Short Film competition

  • Golden Star:Katia, Andrey Natotcinskiy
  • Silver Star:Holy Son, Aliosha Massine
  • Bronze Star:On Solid Ground, Jela Hasler
  • El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film:Cai-Ber, Ahmed Abdelsalam
  • Special Mention: actress Aisha Al Rifae for Nour Shams directed by Faiza Ambah[21]

2024

Side events

Pitching Session: CinemaTech by Gemini Africa[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

Gemini Africa is an Egyptian company extending into Africa and the Middle East for tech startups in an entrepreneurial pitching event under CinemaTech's track.[29] CinemaTech is the first entrepreneurial track bridging the gap between entrepreneurship and filmmaking, with the aim of uplifting the industry by injecting technological solutions offered by startups.[30][31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Vivarelli, Nick (20 June 2022). "Egypt's El Gouna Festival Postponed in Possible Precursor to Permanent Axing". Variety. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  2. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (28 November 2023). "Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival Set to Hold Special Edition Dec. 14-21 Following Postponement". Variety. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "About Us – El Gouna Film Festival". El Gouna Film Festival. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 "5th El-Gouna Film Festival kicks off on October 14". EgyptToday. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "El Gouna Film Festival Facts and News Updates". newsR. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  6. 1 2 Vivarelli, Nick (29 September 2017). "'Scary Mother' Takes Top Nod at Egypt's Inaugural El Gouna Fest". Variety.comy. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "El Gouna Film Festival kicks off its first edition in Egypt". English.alarabiya.net. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Egyptian movie 'Photocopy' wins best Arabic Feature at Gouna Film Festival". Egypt Independent. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "El Gouna Film Profile – 'Scary Mother' (Sashishi Deda)". EgyptToday. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  10. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (13 September 2017). "Forest Whitaker to Be Feted by Egypt's New El Gouna Film Festival; Lineup Announced (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Highlights from the upcoming Gouna Film Festival's 5th edition - Film - Arts & Culture". Ahram Online. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  12. ↑ Ross, Rafa Sales (18 October 2024). "El Gouna Artistic Director Marianne Khoury on Festival's Full Return: 'If I Am Convinced Something Needs to Happen, It Will Happen'". Variety. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "El Gouna Film Festival". ArabicPod101. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "Feature: Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival revives tourism in famed Red Sea resort - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "CineGouna". El Gouna Film Festival. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "The Arab Critics Awards for European Films". Arab Cinema Center. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "El-Gouna Film Festival reveals its awards - Daily News Egypt". DAilynewsegypt.com. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "The First Edition of El Gouna Film Festival Concludes with Huge Aspirations For MENA and Worldwide Cinema". El Gouna Film Festival. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "El Gouna international film festival wraps". Euro News. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "3rd El Gouna Film Festivals announces the winners". Ahram Online. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "5th El Gouna Film Festival awards: 'The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic' wins Golden Star". Ahram Online. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  22. ↑ "CINEGOUNA BRIDGE PROGRAM". elgouna film festival.
  23. ↑ "GEMINI CINEMATECH TRACK". geminiafrica.com.
  24. ↑ "أمينة خليل وصبا مبارك فى جلسة عرض المشاريع سينما تيك بالجونة.. صور". اليوم السابع (in Arabic). اليوم السابع. اليوم السابع. 15 October 2021.
  25. ↑ "صور- مهرجان الجونة .. أمينة خليل تختار الفائز بجائزة أفضل مشروع فى سينماتيك". www.mobtada.com (in Arabic). mobtada. 15 October 2021.
  26. ↑ akhbarelyom, Developed By team (16 October 2021). "الحلول التكنولوجية ودورها الفعال في تسهيل صناعة السينما بـ«جسر الجونة»| صور". بوابة اخبار اليوم. akhbarelyom.
  27. ↑ "مسابقة سينماتك تعلن أسماء الفائزين في مهرجان الجونة السينمائي - بوابة الشروق". www.shorouknews.com (in Arabic). shorouknews.
  28. ↑ "مهرجان الجونة السينمائي.. تعرف على الفائزين في مسابقة سينماتك". www.albawabhnews.com. albawabhnews. 15 October 2021.
  29. ↑ "Inside Gemini Africa's Radical CinemaTech Track". Startupscene. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  30. ↑ "Linking Entrepreneurship With Cinema — Meet Adly Thoma | 925 | The first online magazine of its kind in Egypt". 925. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  31. ↑ "The birth of CinemaTech in Egypt". Business Forward AUC. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
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