“In light of the stressful conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, preparing for the 4th edition of El Gouna Film Festival this year is like a hurdle race”—this is how El Gouna Director Intishal Al Timimi describes it.
He believes that the completion of the El Gouna Film Festival with security—by holding it this year while putting the personal safety and health of the festival's guests and participants at the top of the priorities—is considered an achievement in itself.
It will not only represent the success of the powerful institution that El Gouna Film Festival has become from one edition to the next, but also a model for the artistic and cultural events that are scheduled to be held in the region, including film festivals.
“The Culture of Dreams” is the slogan of the 4th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, which represents the ability to achieve dreams with persistence, regardless of the difficulties.
1-How was the journey to reach the announcement of the launch of the 4th edition, despite all the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic?
When we announced in early June that the festival’s launch date would be postponed for a month, the decision was largely dependent on a set of factors; most notably the strong desire to hold the edition—both from the festival’s management itself, and El Gouna administration.
For a young festival, it was not desirable to stop while the means could be found. All global indicators in June revealed that the world needed and started to get gradually back on track, in part due to the economic situation.
We draw up a plan to hold the edition in a safe environment that would ensure its success in all aspects under the current circumstances.
This required a strong film program, a rigorous review, and selection of CineGouna Platform projects, the presence of key industry professionals, as well as international, regional, and national celebrities, and media professionals.
At the same time, we wanted to focus on ensuring the safety and security of the festival's guests and participants.
2-What are the main facets of the plan for securing the festival’s 4th edition?
Our plan was based on our careful observation of the protocols followed at international artistic and sporting events that were organized in the present circumstances, most notably the Venice International Film Festival, which was a pioneer in convening on-ground, after many other festivals decided to postpone or operate virtually.
Although the edition was scaled down to 50 percent of its regular size, it received wide and positive media coverage, even from platforms not necessarily concerned with art and cinema. The Venice International Film Festival paved the way not only for us but also for other international festivals to follow in its footsteps.
The Toronto International Film Festival and the San Sebastian International Film Festival have since taken place, and the Busan International Film Festival is coming up soon.
We normally expect full-houses, but the situation being what it is, a maximum of 50 percent occupancy will be allowed in the indoor as well as outdoor festival venues. Also, there will be a sufficient gap between consecutive events at the same venue to allow time for complete sanitization after each use.
As a result, and in order to accommodate all the films we normally screen, we will have more screening venues than we usually have.
This also requires various measures in the schedule of shows, preparing the venues, and adding new ones. The one-on-one meetings with filmmakers participating in CineGouna SpringBoard will take place on the lawns of the hotels.
The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival, as well as the outdoor performances, will be moved to the new Gouna Conference and Culture Center, with spaces twice as big as we had in the Marina Theater. Our objective is to maintain social distancing, while simultaneously preserving the usual number of guests.
Over the next two years, we expect that all festival activities will be transferred to Gouna Conference and Culture Center after the completion of all its halls, including the Music Building and the Conference Center.
3-Part of the challenges faced by El Gouna Film Festival lies in the attraction of a vast audience of visitors to the town, both from the region and abroad. Have the numbers been affected by travel restrictions and isolation measures in the world?
All indications so far are pointing towards things following the same framework as the previous years. For instance, I have received news that there are already significant numbers of tourists in town, which is evidenced by the 50 percent increase in rental prices compared to last year—this is a sign of high demand. Of course, we may face some obstacles posed by the circumstances of travel restrictions in many countries, but so far, our valued festival invitees have shown a deep interest in attending the festival.
4-What about the use of virtual platforms to confront the challenges of mobility restrictions?
This year, we are in negotiations with "Festival Scope" and "Cinando" platforms in the hope of being able to offer the same services to our guests. In addition, a large part of the CineGouna Platform activities, including presentations, project discussions, panels, and masterclasses will be made available virtually to filmmakers, distributors, and producers. Instead of the opportunity to connect 150 people, this year, there will be 500 people available for discussion via virtual interaction. This will enhance the attendance at seminars.
5-How has the limited production or availability of films this year affected the quality of El Gouna Film Festival's options for the various competitions?
The list of the films that have been announced is bright evidence of this commitment, which remains the strongest aspect of the El Gouna Film Festival. Our festival is not just a program of film screenings, but rather a forum for filmmakers to interact with each other and with the public.
6-Did the pandemic conditions pose difficulties this year in terms of reaching supporters for projects within the CineGouna Platform?
We currently believe that we will be able to reach our goals, thanks to the loyalty and continued vote of confidence of the supporters of the CineGouna Platform. In the first year, we started out with US $60,000, and in the 2nd edition, we reached US $175,000. Last year, we garnered US $240,000 for supporting the platform’s projects. I believe that this year, we may actually reach a figure close to last year’s since we are still in discussion with some potential partners. So, in that aspect, we seem to be doing well.
7-The Special Presentations section of the festival program has represented a link between the present and the past of Arab and international cinema. Could you tell us about this year’s Special Presentations program?
In this edition, we had to reduce the number of films to about 65 films across our 3 main sections; Unfortunately, we had to reduce our Special Presentations section to 2 films. We will be screening the restored version of Charlie Chaplin's The Kid (1921), one of the best-known cinematic masterpieces of all time, in celebration of its 100th anniversary. We will also screen Hopper/Welles (1970), a very special film featuring an exclusive conversation between two iconic directors, Dennis Hopper and Orson Welles.
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