It was last night that the opening of the 4th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) took place, which will take place from October 23 to 31, 2020.
This edition was planned, as every year, for the month of September, but it had to be postponed because of the Cavid Pandemic 19.
It is also because of this pandemic that I cannot participate personally in this edition, as well as most Tunisian guests.
Indeed, since September 28, 2020, Egypt has been classified in the red zone by our Ministry of Public Health, which implies that any traveler arriving from Egypt must remain in quarantine in a hotel for 14 days. This decision by the Tunisian authorities is still surprising since Egypt is doing better than Tunisia with regard to this pandemic.
For this edition, there has been a very great collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of Health and the El Gouna film festival to establish a protocol allowing festival -goers to participate in various projections and events in good health conditions.
A few days before the opening, the Ministry of Public Health had inspected the premises and had disinfected them. He also imposed standards on various hotels and restaurants hosting festival -goers, such as a maximum capacity of 50%. Same for projections and meetings rooms. Hydro alcoholic gel is placed everywhere and masks are distributed to everyone. Moreover, it was recommended that the festival use open spaces as much as possible and to favor outdoor events.
Ten medical ambulances were also made available to the festival. Teams of doctors are ready to intervene in the event that a festival -goer turns out to be a positive covid 19. All hospitals in the region have also been prepared to cope. Seventeen points or medical stands have been installed everywhere for the needs of festival -goers, as if to take tension or temperature, or carry out PCR tests, especially during departures, to meet the requirements of various countries and airlines.
It must be said that the issue of the success of this edition of the GFF is very important: Egypt wants to send a reassuring message to the world to encourage the return of tourists. What has been said on several occasions yesterday by several organizers of the festival, which since its creation was intended, thanks to the cinema, to promote the city of El Gouna and even of the entire destination Egypt.
For Naguib Sawiris, co -founder of the festival, the GFF made known the city of El Gouna around the world, and has shown that the Egyptians can and know how to organize major events. This also allowed this year to be able to attract many guests, despite the difficulties of the trip and the fear of the pandemic: “He who comes to El Gouna once wants to come back. Especially since our guests know our organizational skills and our seriousness, so they trust us. In addition, we all need joy in these circumstances and the El Gouna film festival is timely for that ”.
His brother Samih Sawiris, also co-founder of the festival, said that at one point, the organizers did not know whether or not to maintain this 4th Edition, but that they had finally said that if the festivals of Venice (Italy) and San Sébastien (Spain) could get there, the GFF could also, especially since the health conditions are better in Egypt than in Europe. He added that with 250 guests this year, the promotion of the festival was assured, if only with sharing on social networks. Which makes a very beautiful advertisement from the world and therefore encourages to visit Egypt.
Asked during his visit to the red carpet, just before the opening ceremony, Intishal Al Timimi, the director of the GFF said that organizing this 4th edition was a very big challenge, especially in terms of logistics and the selection of films. For him, the hardest to manage was uncertainty. At any time, everything could switch. The whole team worked without knowing what could happen. In June, it was necessary to make a choice between three possibilities: either organize the festival as planned, or switch to an edition on the internet, or downright cancel. But once the decision was made, we had to move forward, knowing that at any time, everything could stop. This puts terrible pressure on all.
“But we have continued,” he added. “Besides, the slogan of this edition is Stay Dreaming (continues to dream). For this year 2020, with all its difficulties, the dream is the only way to get out of this frightening reality. Through this slogan we mean that we dream, that humanity does not stop, that the films do not stop. There is a desire for continuity. You have to continue to dream and live normally ”.
As for films, Director Amir Ramsesa member of the artistic commission, confirmed that it was difficult to have a greater selection of films, because of the pandemic certain films having to delay their releases or even having not been finished, but that it was proud that the programmed films were among the best of the season, and that some were selected by major festivals or have won prizes at the festivals of Venice or San Sébastien.
During this opening ceremony, which took place in the new outdoor theater, various tributes were paid, both to living and present artists, as well as artists who have bowed out in 2020.
A prize to reward all of his work was awarded to the French actor Gérard Depardieu, whose presence at the GFF had raised a lively controversy in Egypt, because of his supposed support for the Zionist entity, to which some had opposed his former conversion to Islam. Controversy in which the management of the festival had not wanted to take part and in which she had not answered. Several unions of Egyptian cinema professionals had denounced this tribute by publishing press releases, without however calling for a possible boycott of the festival or the actor.
During his word of thanks, Gérard Depardieu emphasized the role of helping young filmmakers of the GFF through the Cinegouna platform, which gives money, unlike the other festivals including that of Cannes which he said: “Cannes is a bit of shit, a lot of noise for nothing. But here, we also give money to young people, as in kyiv ”.
The Omar Sharif Prize was awarded to the Franco-Moroccan actor Said Taghmaoui, also for the whole of his work. In his word of thanks, he said how touched, Omar Sharif was the actor he dreamed of when he was a child and of which he had become the friend. It was also Omar Sharif who made him discover Egypt and the Cairo International Film Festival.
Two prizes were also given to two Egyptian artists:
– Actor Khaled Al Sawy, who excels in all his roles. Who could for example forget his character as a homosexual journalist in the film Yacoubian building Directed by Marwan Hamed in 2006?
-The decorator Onsi Abu Seif, who worked with the greatest Egyptian directors, like Youssef Chahine, Daoud Abdel Sayed or Yousry Nasrallah and whose sets evolve far beyond the simple places of a film, towards essential dimensions of history.
Actress Shereen Réda went on stage to talk about her father Mahmoud Reda, actor, dancer and co-founder of the Reda dance troupe, and died in July 2020. With tears in her eyes, she talked about her wish to see her becoming a dancer and to share with him her passion for dance, her difficult and precise work, of a dancer, where each step must be done to the nearest millimeter and each replica must be Second near. For her, her father is the person who most loved dance in Egypt the most, and who through her troop had wanted to promote popular dance and raise it at a very high level.
It is on a dance table of this same Reda troop that the ceremony ended before giving way to the screening of the film The man who sold his skin of the Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania. This film had also benefited from the help of the GFF through the Cinegouna platform. What made Amir Ramses say yesterday: “It is also one of the roles of the GFF to help the filmmakers. And I was very proud in Venice when on the credits of the film I saw the logo of the festival appear ”. Surely more increased pride When the film had won two awards at this same Venice Festival.
Neïla Driss
