El Gouna Film Festival to kick off October 13

The festival’s program is dedicated to developing projects and supporting the co-production of Arab films.

According to the official website of the festival, the CineGouna Platform is an industry-oriented event created to support and empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers and help them find artistic and financial support.

“CineGouna Platform presents the CineGouna SpringBoard and CineGouna Bridge programs that provide opportunities for sharing and learning,” the website said.

The platform selected 20 projects, with 13 in the development stage including seven feature-length narrative projects and six feature-length documentary projects, and seven films in the post-production stages including three feature-length films and four feature-length documentaries.

These projects represent eight Arab countries, and were selected from more than 160 projects submitted to compete in the launch of the Gouna Film Festival 2023 for prizes worth more than US$380,000.

Filmmakers will present their projects and films to producers, donor institutions, distributors, film sellers and festival programmers, to obtain artistic advice.

In addition, one-on-one meetings will be held between filmmakers, industry experts and consultants to develop scripts or versions of films in progress with the aim of enhancing opportunities for regional and international cooperation.

The 6th El Gouna Film Festival Jury

The jury is composed of Tunisian producer Habib Attia, French producer Guillaume de Seille and Egyptian director and screenwriter Hala Khalil.

The winning project in the development stage and the winning film in the post-production stage will receive a CineGouna Platform certificate, and a financial prize of $15,000 for each, in addition to a number of valuable financial and professional awards presented in partnership with local, regional and international institutions.

Three cinema experts assist the selected projects through direct supervision sessions in which an expert develops the capabilities of the filmmakers.

Chosen experts for the sixth CineGouna Platform are Egyptian director Jihan al-Tahri, French producer Marie Balducci, and Palestinian director Najwa Najjar.

The director of the El Gouna Film Festival Intishal al-Tamimi, spoke about this year’s launch event.

“We initially had fears about the impact of the economic situation on the enthusiasm of partners and film institutions to support the projects participating in CineGouna Platform event, but we were surprised by the large turnout that made the total prize pool reach a record number compared to all previous sessions.”

“This will certainly contribute to helping projects and supporting Arab cinema in general,” Tamimi concluded.

List of projects selected for the CineGouna Platform Event 2023

Selected projects in development:

Feature films:

• “Hekayet Risha w Samaka” (The Tale of a Feather and a Fish), directed by Ahmed Al-Hawari, produced by Hala Lotfy (Egypt)


• “Asa Samaka fi Hoad” (Asa is a Fish in a Tank), directed by Dalia Nemlesh, produced by Marine Vaian (Lebanon, France, and Denmark).


• “El Dorado” Directed by Aladdin al-Jem, produced by Francesca Duca, Louise Bellico and Claire Gervais (Morocco, France, and Italy).


• “Bent al-Reeh” (Daughter of the Wind), directed by Mufida Fadila, produced by Mehdi Hamili (Tunisia)


• “Beit Beirut” Directed by George Peter Barbari, Produced by Christelle Younes (Lebanon).


• “Ashbah al-Hoot” (Whale Ghosts) directed by Ahmed Mahmoud, produced by Mohamed al-Omda and Ahmed Mahmoud (Sudan).


• “Yommi” directed by Hend Boudjemaa, produced by Hend Boudjemaa, Caroline Huben, François Darthemer, and Lina Chaabane (Tunisia, Belgium, and France).

Feature documentary projects:

“Crocodoubles” directed by Omar Mangouna, produced by Laura Klöckner and Qismat al-Sayed (Egypt, Germany, and US).

“In the name of Safia” directed by Safia Cassas, produced by Isabelle Turk and Camille Laemme (Belgium, and France).

“Albert’s Four Choices” directed and produced by Hala Galal (Egypt).

“The Beach Boys”, directed by Dima al-Horr, produced by Sabine Sidawi (Lebanon, and France).

“Stealing Fire” directed by Amer Shomali, produced by Rashid Abdel Hamid (Palestine, Canada, and France).

A Yemeni documentary project.

Selected films in post-production

Feature films:

“Spring Comes Laughing” directed by Noha Adel, produced by Kawthar Younes (Egypt, and France).

“Tunisia-Djerba” directed by Amal Jilati, produced by Asmaa Chiboub and Karim Aytouna (Tunisia, France, and Qatar).

Feature documentaries:

“Land of Girls” directed by Nada Riad and Ayman Al-Amir, produced by Ayman al-Amir (Egypt, France, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar).

“She Was Not Alone” directed by Hussein al-Asadi, produced by Hoda al-Kazemi and Huma Gupta (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and US).

“The Last Man” directed by Mohamed Salah, produced by Mark Lotfy (Egypt and Canada).

“Moallaq” directed by Myriam al-Hajj, produced by Myriam Sassine and Karen Rosnicki (Lebanon, France, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia).

“Sudan, When the Poem Falls Down” directed by Hind al-Madab, produced by Abel Namias, Michel Zana, Alice, and Tawfiq Qiqa (France, and Tunisia).