El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) is pleased to announce the Call for Entries for the 7th edition of CineGouna Platform, which is scheduled to take place from October 25-30, 2024, in the resort town of El Gouna. The deadline for receipt of submissions is July 15, 2024, for projects in development and August 1, 2024, for films in post-production.
The entry form and complete information regarding eligibility for submission can be found on the festival’s website: http:// www.elgounafilmfestival.com
During its 6th edition, CineGouna Platform selected 12 projects in development and 7 films in post-production based on their content, artistic vision, and overall financial feasibility. These projects presented by GFF along with its partners and sponsors, were eligible for various awards totalling US $340,000.
The CineGouna SpringBoard jury included Egyptian director and writer Hala Khalil, producer and former managing director of the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, George David, and French producer Guillaume de Seille.
“Theft of Fire” by Amer Shomali (Palestine) won the Best Project in Development award, while “She Was Not Alone” by Hussein Al-Asadi (Iraq) won the Best Film in Post-Production award. Other CineGouna SpringBoard were distributed among 17 different projects, including “Diaries from Lebanon” by Myriam El Hajj (Lebanon), which was selected for Berlin International Film Festival’s 2024 Panorama, and “The Brink of Dreams” by Nada Riyadh & Ayman El Amir (Egypt). Which was officially selected to participate in the Critics' Week Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Since its inception, a large number of CineGouna Platform alumni have made their mark regionally and internationally by winning acclaim and awards at prestigious international film festivals. Abu Bakr Shawky’s “Yomeddine” was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and won the François Chalais Prize. Ayten Amin's “Souad” was selected at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and Berlinale 2021, “The Day I Lost My Shadow” by Soudade Kaadan won the Lion of the Future at the 2018 Biennale, Ali El Arabi’s “Captains of Zaatari” had its World premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia” which won the freedoms award in Cannes’ Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard competition.
Other highly acclaimed films by CGP alumni include “Daughters of Abdulrahman” by Zaid Abu Hamdan, the film had its world premiere in the International Competition of the Cairo IFF, where it won the Audience Award. It was also the official Jordanian submission to the Academy Awards; “Life Suits Me Well” by Al Hadi Ulad Mohand screened at the 2021 Red Sea IFF; “Streams” by Mehdi Hmili was screened at many international festivals, including Locarno and Zurich. “Under The Fig Trees” by Erige Sehiri had a highly successful film festival run including Directors' Fortnight, Cannes; Toronto, Munich, and Karlovy Vary.
Festival co-founder and executive director Amr Mansi commented: “Since its founding, El Gouna Film Festival has set supporting the Arab film industry as a main goal, and the CineGouna Platform and CineGouna Springboard have been the ideal starting or completion point for many projects that have become films that have gained world appreciation and been shown at major international festivals. In its seventh edition, El Gouna Festival continues to play its creative role in Supporting Arab talents artistically and financially.”
Artistic Director of the El Gouna Film Festival, Marianne Khoury, commented: “We are looking forward to receiving the best Arab film projects in the development and post-production stages, as CineGouna SpringBoard received a record number of projects during the last session, which confirms the value of the program that it has built up over years of supporting Arab films and helping filmmakers to complete their work in the best possible way.”
The 7th edition of GFF is scheduled to take place from October 24 to November 1, 2024, in the resort town of El Gouna, known not only for its beauty and progressiveness but also for its strong support of the arts and creativity.
El Gouna Film Festival
El Gouna Film Festival, founded in 2017, is one of the leading festivals in the MENA region. GFF aims to showcase a wide variety of films for a passionate and knowledgeable audience, while fostering better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking. Its goal is to connect filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange. The festival is committed to the discovery of new voices and strives to be a catalyst for the development of cinema in the Arab world, especially through CineGouna Platform, an industry-oriented event created to empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers and help them find artistic and financial support. CineGouna Platform presents the CineGouna Bridge program that provides opportunities for sharing and learning and the CineGouna SpringBoard, a project development and co-production lab. New since 2023 the CineGouna Market, a place creating a link between emerging and established filmmakers. Also, CineGouna Emerge, aimed at young men and women across Egypt working in various fields of Cinema offering them an immersive experience to participate in and benefit from all festival activities.
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