The El Gouna Film Festival, scheduled for October 16 to 24, 2025, will once again host the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films, a now unmissable event which is already in its seventh edition. Created jointly by the European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), this initiative highlights the richness and diversity of European cinema through the eyes of 100 Arab critics from 16 countries. Their mission: to designate three favorites among the twenty selected films, before announcing the final winner during the festival.
The 2025 selection illustrates the variety of European writing and the originality of artistic approaches. Many of these works have already marked the biggest international festivals or represented their country in the race for the Oscar for best international film. Among them, we find Young mothers brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium), who won the best screenplay prize at Cannes, Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić (Slovenia) or even Sanatorium by Irish documentary filmmaker Gar O’Rourke. Other films, already widely distinguished, confirm their place in this competition: DJ Ahmet by Georgi Unkovski (North Macedonia), multi-award winning at Sundance, Cannes and Sarajevo, home Sweet Home by Frelle Petersen (Denmark) and Deaf by Eva Libertad (Spain), awarded at the Berlinale Panorama, Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin (Germany), winner at the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival, or even Celtic Utopia by Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén (Sweden), awarded at the Locarno Critics’ Week. The animation is also represented with Tales from the Magic Garden by David Súkup, Jean-Claude Rozec, Patrik Pašš and Leon Vidmar (Slovakia), already crowned at the Giffoni Film Festival.
Click here for the list of all selected films
For Sonja Heinen, general director of the EFP, this selection demonstrates the breadth and diversity of European cinema: “ We are delighted to see new critics join the jury again this year. Each brings a unique perspective, which enriches the dialogue and helps to strengthen the circulation of the films. The twenty works in competition reflect the vitality and plurality of European cinematography. »
As for the Arab Cinema Center, its co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab insist on the importance of this collaboration with the EFP: “ It is always a pleasure to renew this partnership and to give Arab critics the opportunity to promote European cinema in our region. These exchanges also help open up new horizons for filmmakers. »
In El Gouna, artistic director Marianne Khoury underlines the importance of this meeting in the dynamics of the festival: “ We are proud to host the Arab Critics Awards for European Films. This meeting between Arab critics and European cinema illustrates our vocation to build bridges, to promote intercultural dialogue and to affirm the essential role of Arab festivals in this interaction.. »
Since its creation in 2019, the prize has rewarded several works that have become emblematic. The first edition dedicated the very beautiful God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya by Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevskaa powerful work on female emancipation that had already marked the Berlinale and found wide resonance in the Arab region thanks to its bold treatment of traditions and patriarchy. The following year, it was the German Christian Petzold who was distinguished for Undinea contemporary variation of the aquatic legend, whose visual poetry and Paula Beer’s interpretation had been widely praised. In 2021, the prize went to Slovak filmmaker Peter Kerekes for 107 Mothersa hybrid film, between fiction and documentary, which explored motherhood behind the walls of a Ukrainian prison, sparking a rich debate on the representation of women and the margins.
In 2022, it was the Polish veteran Jerzy Skolimowski who upset the critics with EOa modern rereading of Randomly Balthazar by Robert Bresson. The film, told from the point of view of a donkey, conquered festivals and reminded us of the power of experimental perspectives on the world. The year 2023 dedicated the Finn Aki Kaurismäki to Dead leaves/Fallen Leavesa tender and melancholy chronicle about two solitary beings who meet in Helsinki, confirming the unique and minimalist style of the filmmaker, already celebrated in Cannes.
Finally, in 2024, the prize had distinguished The Seeds of the Wild Fig Tree/The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof, a magnificent Iranian film of major political significance, also awarded several prizes at Cannes, including the Special Jury Prizeand which found particular resonance in the Arab world through its commitment and its narrative power.
This retrospective of the winners of the six previous editions shows the ability of the prize to identify works of great aesthetic and thematic diversity, but also to offer them broader visibility in the Arab region, where criticism plays an essential role as a cultural conduit.
This year, the list of 100 participating critics includes several Tunisians, confirming the place of national criticism in the Arab landscape. Among them are Lamia Guiga, Ikbal Zalila, Samira Daimi, Tarek Ben Chaabane – current general director of the Carthage Film Days 2025 – as well as myself, Neïla Driss, alongside other writers from throughout the region.
Click here for a list of all reviews by country
The prize, supported by Creative Europe – the MEDIA program of the European Union, aims as much to promote the diversity of works as to promote the voice of Arab critics, considered essential bridges between films and audiences. More broadly, it aims to stimulate the interest of distributors and professionals in the sector for works which, without this springboard, would sometimes have difficulty finding visibility in the region.
The El Gouna Festival, founded in 2017, has established itself in less than a decade as an essential platform for Arab and international cinema. Thanks to its industry, the CineGouna Platform, it encourages the discovery of new talents, promotes co-production and consolidates artistic exchanges. The integration of the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films into its programming confirms this desire to put criticism at the heart of cultural dialogue and to make the festival a true crossroads of world cinema.
Neila Driss
