Presenter of the ceremony Nardin Faraj welcomed El Gouna guests and thanked the sponsors of the festival among which she remembered the late beauty sponsor of the festival Mohamed El-Saghir.

Faraj welcomed the festival founder engineer Samih Sawiris and actress Youssra to the stage. After Sawiris welcomed his guests, he thanked all the workers who made this ceremony possible in the same venue of yesterday’s fire.

Sawiris said, “the upcoming years are more challenging, as we always want to make something different and better than the year before.”

He added, “I want to thank the Minister of Health for making last year’s edition possible in spite of the pandemic, and accordingly, other film festivals the following year knew that it’s possible to make a film festival happen in these hard times.”

Actor Sayed Ragab appeared on stage accompanied by a screened trailer for the late actors who left us in the year 2021 among which were: the beloved Samir Ghanem and his wife Dalal Abdel-Aziz, Youssef Shaaban, Ezzat Al-Alaili, Mustafa Moharam, Ahlam El-Geretly, Ramses Marzouk, Wahid Hamed and other foreign celebrities as well.

Festival director Intishal Al-Timimi was welcomed on stage, expressed his gratitude to all the festival team and commented “The coming years are challenging, however, we imagine and this imagination is not only reflected on out festival but it’s also reflected on other festivals as well.”

Faraj welcomed actress Hind Sabri on stage who presented the Career Achievement Award to actor Ahmed El-Sakka. He expressed his happiness with the award and dedicated it to the memory of the late couple Samir Ghanem and Dalal Abdel-Aziz, as well as his late father Salah El-Sakka. He also dedicated the award to his wife Maha El-Saghir and all his fellow actors of his generation.

GFF paid a tribute to the late veteran comedian Samir Ghanem, presented by renowned actress Lebleba, who starred alongside Ghanem in nine films. She said “Ghanem created a special style for himself, he was known with a special walk and his different sense of humor.” Lebleba’s touching words were followed by a dance performance synchronized with a collection of the most remarkable scenes across his career in cinema and theatre. 

The ceremony cameto an end with a song performed by actor Mohamed Ramadan.