Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) opened its 7th edition on Thursday (October 26) with a star-packed red carpet, calls to end ongoing conflict and an honorary award for veteran actor and producer Mahmoud Hemida.
Returning in full after a more subdued edition last year and cancellation in 2022, the opening ceremony took place under clear skies and fireworks at the Plaza Theatre in the Egyptian resort town of El Gouna.
Those in attendance included Indian actress and director Nandita Das, Game Of Thrones star Sibel Kekilli, and former Cannes March du Film executive director Jerome Paillard, all of whom sit on juries at this year’s festival.
Egyptian actors in attendance included Menna Shalaby, Amina Khalil, Tara Emad, Ahmed Magdy, and Amir El-Masry, who was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2021. French actor Kevin Dias of Netflix series Emily In Paris, Sweden’s Alicia Agneson from Vikings and Italian actress Antonella Salvucci brought further international flavour to the opening night.
This year’s honorary creative achievement award was presented to Mahmoud Hemida, a veteran Egyptian actor, producer, and founder of production company Al-Batrik, to recognise his contributions to Arab cinema. Introducing him on stage, Egyptian director Inas ElDeghedy said Hemida was “an artist with the soul of a child, whose slogan has always been bold choices”.
A special screening of Ossama Fawzy’s Gannet El-Shayateen (aka Fallen Angels Paradise), starring Hemida, will be shown during the festival. Accepting the award, the star said: “I had a dream of building a city on Red Sea’s shore in Marsa Alam, to host cultural and cinema events. Although I couldn’t achieve this vision, [GFF founders] Naguib and Samih Sawiris made it a reality, which makes me doubly happy to receive this award.”
Lebanese directors Joanna Hadji and Khalil George were also recognised with the creative achievement award for “blending imagination with socially conscious storytelling”. GFF will screen their 2021 film Memory Box, which premiered at the Berlinale and won best Arab film at Cairo International Film Festival.
Taking a more serious tone, GFF Naguib Sawiris addressed the ongoing humanitarian crises in the MENA region and around the world, highlighting the suffering in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine. “The beautiful thing about cinema is that it can deliver a message directly to the heart,” he said. “We need leadership that can stop the wars; enough is enough – people people are paying a high price.”
The ceremony concluded with the screening of The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Croatia’s Nebojša Slijepčević, which won the Palme d’Or for best short film at Cannes in May. It followed a hasty rescheduling after original opening night film The Last Miracle was pulled from the slot. The Egyptian drama directed by Abdelwahab Shawky is understood to have not been cleared by Egypt’s Central Authority for the Censorship of Works of Art (CACWA).
GFF is set to run until November 1.
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