During the press conference held in Cairo this morning to announce the details of its sixth edition, which will be held from October 13 to 20, the El Gouna film festival revealed that 14 films will participate in the competition of fiction feature films, including anatomy of the fall of French director Justine Triet, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival 2023 Brazilian Guto Parente, who won four prizes at the Tribeca 2023 film festival. We note that unfortunately, no fiction film is in competition this year in El Gouna.
The competition also includes the Egyptian film Al-Chenab as a global preview, as well as two first films, If only I COULD Hibernate by Zoltan Gabor Puehrerdaasch who had made his first at the Cannes Film Festival and Hypnosis of Ernest de Gyér.
The list of fiction feature films includes:
Aal Shanab
Ayten Amin | Egypt | 2023 | Arabic | 100 min
Layla, a thirty woman, faces her mother’s control over her life. Suddenly, a family member dies, forcing Layla and his mother to go to Alexandria to present their condolences. During the three days of mourning, in the presence of the large family made up of four aunts and their children and grandchildren, many comic situations occur. World Premiere.
Birdland (the country of birds)
Leïla Kilani | Morocco, France | 2023 | Arabic, French, Spanish | 127 min
Léna, a teenager from a wealthy family, lives near the rich Azrou forest in Morocco, renowned for her birds. As she uses social media to document daily life, her grandmother is preparing a marriage for one of their parents, triggering a conspiracy against their house in the forest. Presented at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023.
Anatomy of a fall
Justine Triet | France | 2023 | French, English, German | 151 min
Sandra, a German writer, lives with her husband Samuel and their son partially blind Daniel in a mountain house located in the French Alps. When her husband dies in mysterious circumstances, the investigation is struggling to determine whether it is a suicide or a premeditated murder. Laureate of the Palme d’Or at the 2023 Cannes Festival.
Hypnosis
Ernest de Gyér | Sweden, Norway, France | 2023 | Swedish, Norwegian, English | 98 min
André and Vera, a young couple working in entrepreneurship, have the opportunity to present their project of application focused on the health of women in a prestigious competition. Vera tries to quit smoking by magnetic hypnosis before the competition, which changes his personality, while André’s behavior suddenly takes an unexpected turn. Winner of the best male interpretation for Herbert Nordrum at the Karlovy Vary 2023 international film festival.
The wall
Philippe Van Leeuw | Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, United States | 2023 | English | 96 min
Jessica Cumley, a devoted border guard, loses control and accidentally kills a peaceful migrant before three witnesses. Presented at the Brussels Film Festival 2023.
The wall is also in competition in the cinema section for humanity.
A Strange Path (A strange path)
Guto Parente | Brazil | 2023 | Portuguese | 84 min
A young director returns to his hometown to reconnect with his father while the Covid-19 pandemic aggravates in Brazil. Their relationship becomes more complicated because of a strange phenomenon that occurs when one of them approaches the other. Winner of several prizes at the Tribeca 2023 film festival.
Dogman
Luc Besson | France | 2023 | English | 114 min
The story of a child broken by life, who finds redemption in the love he has to his dogs. Presented in official competition at the Venice Film Festival 2023.
Transient Happiness
Sina Mohammed | Iraq, Kurdistan | 2023 | Kurdish | 67 min
In an isolated village, the routine of an elderly couple changes when the woman falls ill. Her husband, accustomed to transporting sheep on a motorcycle, takes her to the hospital for the first time. His unexpected words, “set me away”, bring immense joy, leading to a warm development in their trip. Winner of the best long fiction film at the Amsterdam 2023 Kurdish Film Festival.
Our Day
Hong Sang-Soo | South Korea | 2023 | Korean | 84 min
In her thirtieth film, Hong Sang-Soo tells of two distinct conversations that exchange roles between an amateur actress and a veteran poetess, avoiding existential questions by food, drinks, music, comic behaviors of cats and games. Presented at the end at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
A Greyhound of A Girl
Enzo Dalo | Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Estonia, Latvia, Germany | 2023 | English | 88 min
Mary O’Hara, a ten-year-old girl, is shocked when her grandmother, Eimer, is admitted to the hospital. She visits her regularly, and during one of her visits, she meets Tansy, a new neighbor, who gives her an urgent message for her grandmother. Presented at the Berlin International Film Festival 2023.
If only I COULD Hibernate
Zoljargal purevdash | Mongolia, France, Switzerland | 2023 | Mongolian | 98 min
Oulzi, a poor teenager, aspires to win a scholarship by participating in a scientific competition. Meanwhile, his mother finds a job in the countryside, leaving him with her younger brothers and sisters to face the freezing cold. Selected in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and the international competition at the Karlovy Vary 2023 international film festival.
May December
Todd Haynes | United States | 2023 | English | 117 min
Twenty years after the scandal surrounding the romance of Grace (Julianne Moore) with her 23 -year -old husband, the Hollywood actress Elizabeth Perry (Natalie Portman) visits the family to get closer to Grace, whom she will play in a film, putting the family under great pressure. Presented in official competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Whispers of fire and water
Lubdhak Chatterjee | India | 2023 | Bengali, Hindi, English | 84 min
Based on a documentary approach, the film follows the journey of a Turkish sound artist in the coal region of Jharia, India, faced with the exhaustion of resources and landscapes shaped by fire and water. Strange elements mingle with industry. Presented to the competition of the creators of film present at the International Film of the Film of Locarno 2023. This film is also in competition in the cinema section for humanity | Environmental competition
Goodby Julia
Mohamed Kordofani | Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Sweden | 2023 | Arabic | 120 min
Mona, a retired singer living in northern Sudan, enters a tense marriage and carries the weight of guilt after having covered murder. She tries to repair the situation by welcoming Julia, the widow of the deceased from the South, and her son Daniel at home. Winner of the Luverte Prix at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival And the prize for the El Gouna Film Festival platform for the best developing feature film in 2020.
This film is also in competition in the cinema section for humanity
The El Gouna Film Festival is one of the main festivals of the Middle East, aimed at presenting a variety of films to the public passionate about cinema, creating cultural ties through the seventh art and connecting filmmakers in the Arab region to their international counterparts to promote collaboration and cultural exchange. In addition, the festival undertakes to discover new cinematographic talents to develop cinema in the Arab world, in particular thanks to its industrial branch, the platform of the El Gouna film festival, which offers apprenticeship and participation opportunities.
