Tonight begins the third edition of the El Gouna Film Festival (GFF), the largest of the youngest film festivals in the Arab world.
If ” Humanity Cinema Is the permanent slogan of the El Gouna Film Festival, it is precisely because through the very wide choice of quality films, coming from several countries, and the various organized events, its goal is to allow a different look at all the cultures of the world, to know them and thus accept the differences.
These films that make people think, arouse emotions and have an impact on spectators, have often been in competition in prestigious film festivals, like festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Toronto or Venice. Some have even been awarded, such as the South Korean film ParasitePalme d’Or during the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Several of these films have also been selected by their country to represent them in the race for the Oscar for the best film in a foreign language, such as the Moroccan film Adam from Meriem Touzanithe Algerian film Papicha of Mounia Meddour and the Brazilian film The invisible life of Euridice Gusmao Directed by Karim Aïnouz. These three films having been in competition in Cannes in the Un certain Locat selection.
Without forgetting that the GFF also aims to build a bridge between professionals from various countries and forces to discover new talents to be a tool for evolution of cinema in the Arab world.
For Naguib Sawiris, founder of the GFF, this festival was very lucky. He was born a winner. Indeed, people talk about it with admiration as if it had existed for 20 years already, and are surprised by the quality of guests, films and organization. In addition, this festival goes beyond the framework of cinema, since it has repercussions on tourism by making Egypt speak and making it known.
His brother Samih Sawiris, founder of the city of El Gouna, who celebrates his thirtieth anniversary this year, confirms this aspect: ” Thanks to the success of the festival, today it is the whole Hurghada region which is concerned by this cinematographic event. 30 years ago, when I came to El Gouna, when she was only a desert, I would never have thought that she would become so important, nor that she would be such a successful project. I would have thought it would be a simple small seaside resort, just one or two hotels and a few restaurants. But little by little, there have been other hotels, houses, restaurants, a school, a hospital, a faculty … Today El Gouna is a real city. And for a few weeks has started to build a congress room, which will be used for several events, for concerts, for projections, for the festival… »»
Samih Sawiris also explained that to ensure the success and sustainability of a festival, he must evolve and that he always has new products. For the El Gouna Film Festival, the idea is that the festival must create a link between tourism and cinema and that it must be a plus for its region. This is why the whole city collaborated in this festival and gave it its identity. The El Gouna Festival is a city festival, where all the inhabitants are involved, unlike for example at the Cairo International Film Festival which does not exceed the limits of the Opera.
In addition, the organizers are always on the lookout for new ideas. Last year, there was a large concert dedicated to the memory of Youssef Chahine, this year an agreement was signed with Unicef which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, to work on the films which concern children.
For this third edition, the 2019 GFF will pay tribute to actor Mohamed Henedi, which is a double novelty: first because it is rare that movie festivals are interested in comedies and comic actors and then because generally festivals pay tribute to old artists at the end of their careers. Mohamed Henedi was chosen because he was a pioneer in his field and paved the way for several comedy actors.
In addition, on the occasion of this Third edition, a new movie theater was opened in Hurghada, to allow its inhabitants to also enjoy the festival.
All these new features enrich the El Gouna film festival, contribute to its success and help it in its mission to be talked about.
For Naguib Sawiris, the success of the El Gouna film festival concerns mainly:
1/ Cultural awakening:
During the second edition of the festival, it was sold 5 times more tickets than the first year. But what is even more remarkable is that on social networks, there were a lot of interactions: people were talking about the films, exchanged the titles, sometimes took photos with the tickets, said how many films they went to see …
2/ School for volunteers:
It was noticed that the volunteers who work for the El Gouna film festival can then drop jobs in large companies who want to take advantage of their experience in organization and efficiency and especially teamwork. They are also recruited for the organization of important events.
3/ El Gouna as a tourist destination:
The festival had an excellent influence on the whole city and even on the whole country. In 2018, in 9 days, 29,000 people attended the festival. He even had to add rooms to El Gouna and house certain festival -goers in Hurghada.
4/ An important festival for professionals:
In three years, the El Gouna Film Festival has become an important festival for professionals who are very happy that their films are scheduled. The biggest films in world cinema are screened in the first Arabic and sometimes even world premiere. Most of which have won prestigious prizes at major festivals. Without forgetting the masters classes, workshops, discussions and famous guests, such as this year the Canadian actor of Egyptian origin, Mena Massoud, who played the main role in the film Aladdin produced by Disney.
And of course the success of the Cinegouna platform: out of the ten projects helped by the festival, nine went to major festivals (three in Toronto, five in Berlin and one in San Sebastien).
See you this evening at the 2019 GFF opening ceremony!
Neila Driss
