It’s that time of year again, with the vibrant and much-anticipated cinematic season about to kick off. The press conference announcing the eighth El Gouna Film Festival (GFF, 16-24 October) was held on Tuesday at one of Garden City’s iconic hotels. Presented by Nardin Farag, the conference announced that one of the highlights of the upcoming edition is extending the Window on Palestine section.
In his speech the founder of El Gouna Film Festival and Chairman of Orascom Investment Holding S.A.E. Naguib Sawiris said: “Our presence here after seven successful rounds is a proof that GFF has become a distinctive landmark on the map of international festivals and, moreover, a significant destination for filmmakers and the film industry professionals from all over the world. It was our dream to found a film festival with all the international standards and with every round this dream is growing, proving that cinema is capable of opening new doors for people to connect. Our slogan Cinema for Humanity is a guiding principle through which we support humanitarian causes in various ways.”
For his part the founder of El Gouna and Chairman of El Gouna Film Festival Board of Directors Samih Sawiris said, “I believe the city of El Gouna and the festival now complement one another. Besides the artistic value the festival brings to El Gouna, it has also become a cherished memory for El Gouna’s residents and I’m glad it has become one of the most important festivals in Egypt.”
As for Executive Director and Co-founder Amr Mansi, he spoke extensively about the details of the round, announcing the festival’s landmark partnership with the United Nations, alongside long-term collaborations with various UN agencies. This year, the alliance takes shape with the adoption of food security as the main theme, reflecting the coincidence of World Food Day with the opening of the festival. Mansi said, “GFF continues to affirm its place as one of the region’s leading cultural events with our commitment to supporting the film industry on local, regional, and international levels. This year CineGouna Funding received over 290 submissions from across the Arab world, while Cinema for Humanity, reaffirms its role as a platform for dialogue and global responsibility. In addition, the short film competition ‘Eish’ will continue for the second year in a row, in partnership with the World Food Programme.”
Mansi added, “we also launched the CineGouna Market in the sixth edition. It had a promising start and expanded further last year. There is also the Festival Plaza, designed to serve as a central hub for the festival’s various events and programmes. It is a meeting place for filmmakers and events. There are also significant partnerships with major entities such as Netflix and MBC, in addition to a strategic three-year memorandum of understanding with ESLSCA University Egypt.”
Artistic Director Marianne Khoury said, “I am delighted to share my excitement for the 8th round of El Gouna Film Festival, with the remarkable growth of CineGouna Emerge, which will welcome more than 150 young filmmakers and emerging professionals this year.” She mentioned that the Egyptian film presence extends across the festival’s sections with a remarkable lineup: two
films in the Feature Narrative Competition, My Father’s Scent by Mohamed Siam and The Settlement by Mohamed Rashad; two in the Documentary Competition, 50 Meters by Yomna Khattab and Life After Siham by Namir Abdel-Messeeh; and Love Imagined by Sara Rozik in the Out-of-Competition programme.
GFF has always been committed to supporting first- and second-time filmmakers, as they represent new voices that deserve exposure. For this reason, the two main competitions focus on such films, while films by acclaimed directors that have already won awards at major festivals are showcased in the Out-of-Competition section.
Khoury also announced the centennial celebration of the birth of the iconic filmmaker Youssef Chahine on 25 January 2026, marked in a special programme featuring a retrospective screening of one of Chahine’s most remarkable films. GFF’s programme also includes a panel discussion under the name “Journey with the Master – Youssef Chahine: From Chahine’s Lens to Their Own Worlds”, about Chahine’s influence on Egyptian filmmakers like Youssry Nasrallah and Daoud Abdel-Sayed. Khoury added, “The celebration will not be limited to Egypt, the celebration will launch at GFF before travelling the world, from France to Japan, Switzerland, and beyond. Chahine was not only an exceptional filmmaker but also the spiritual father of the new wave of Arab cinema, and this is highlighting his influence on an entire generation of Arab filmmakers who followed in his footsteps by creating autobiographical films. He not only pioneered this genre in Arab cinema with his film Alexandria… Why?, but also inspired filmmakers in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt to make their first works in this direction.”
GFF will feature a major exhibition on Chahine curated and designed by Sherine Farghal, with the support of Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, the festival’s impact partner. The exhibition will be a sensory experience inspired by Chahine’s film Cairo Station, resembling the iconic Ramses Station. In that space, visitors will go through the different stations of Chahine’s artistic journey.
Khoury added that in this edition actress Menna Shalaby will receive the Career Achievement Award. Shalaby, who starred in more than 40 films and a number of TV series, began her acting career in 2000; her debut film was Radwan Al-Kashef’s Al-Saher (The Magician, 2001), in which she starred alongside the late renowned actor Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.
UN Resident Coordinator Elena Panova highlighted the partnership between the UN and GFF, saying, “as the UN marks 80 years of advancing peace, human rights, and sustainable development, we are proud to stand with the El Gouna Film Festival, the government of Egypt, and partners across all sectors to inspire audiences.”
Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat also spoke at the conference. She said: “Culture and creativity are powerful engines of development and we are proud to support an initiative that highlights the critical role of diverse actors and organisations, deepening cross-cultural understanding, and advancing our shared values.”
The CEO of El Gouna coastal city Mohamed Amer said, “this year, as it marks 35 years, El Gouna is clearly more than a neighbourhood, hotels, or marinas; it is home to over 25,000 residents and a destination that welcomes more than a million visitors every year. The community of El Gouna supports creativity, and connecting cultures. That is why artists and filmmakers return each year, because El Gouna is a true community of culture.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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