Cairo, 5 June 2017: The exciting new El Gouna Film Festival is now accepting entries of films for its first edition, slated to take place in El Gouna, Egypt, from September 22 to 29. Film submissions are invited for the Feature Narrative Competition; Feature Documentary Competition; Short Film Competition and Official Selection Out of Competition sections.

Juries composed of eminent film personalities and cinema professionals will select the winners in each category of the competitions. The winners will be awarded the El Gouna Gold Star for the Best film. Silver and Bronze Star awards will be given to the first and second runners up. An award will also be given to the best film from the Arab world in each of the three competitions. In addition, the Feature Narrative Competition will also present an award for the Best Actor and Actress of the competing films. The winning films compete for prizes totaling in excess of US $200,000. 

Announcing the awards, Engineer Naguib Sawiris said: “The idea behind the awards is to encourage creativity and original expression and to offer an incentive for filmmakers to push boundaries and to contribute to a brighter future for cinema in the region and in the world”.

The criteria of eligibility have been announced in the detailed Rules and Regulations for participation. The rules and entry are available on the website www.elgounafilmfestival.com.

 
Intishal Al Timimi, Festival Director, added: “The Call for Entries will enable us to receive entries of some outstanding films that might have gone unnoticed, This will enrich our programme with new cinematic voices that are waiting to be heard” 

The Programming team of the El Gouna Film Festival will meticulously preview all eligible films and help choose projects that represent a balanced mix of films acclaimed at major film festivals alongside newer cinematic works that challenge the norms and explore new and alternative forms of cinematic expression. The selection process will ensure that the films presented have high artistic value that will expand new grounds of mutual understanding and coexistence.

EL GOUNA FILM FESTIVAL 22-29 SEPTEMBER 2017
Awards 

Three juries, comprised by outstanding personalities of cinema and culture, will award the following prizes: 

A five person Feature Narrative Competition Jury will grant the following Awards:

•    El Gouna Golden Star for a Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $50,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $25,000)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star Narrative Film (Certificate, Trophy and U $ 15,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $20,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Actor (Trophy and Certificate)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Actress (Trophy and Certificate)

The cash award will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film.

A five person Feature Documentary Competition Jury will grant the following Awards:

•    El Gouna Golden Star for a Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $30,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $15,000)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star Documentary Film (Certificate, Trophy and US $7,500)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD $10,000)

The cash award will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film.

A three person Short Films Competition Jury will grant the following Awards:

•    El Gouna Golden Star for Best Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $15,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $7,500)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $4,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and US $5,000)

All prizes, including the cash awards, will be awarded to the director of the winning film.

El Gouna Film Festival “Cinema for Humanity”

The First Edition of El Gouna Film Festival will take place from the 22nd to 29th September2017, in the Red Sea’s honeypot destination El Gouna. 

The festival will be an unmissable annual rendezvous for film professionals and film lovers from Egypt the Arabic countries and indeed from all over the world.

The inaugural edition of the El Gouna Film Festival will take place in September 2017 in the Red Sea’s honeypot destination El Gouna., From its very first edition, the festival will be an unmissable annual rendezvous for film professionals and film lovers from Egypt, the Arabic countries, and indeed from all over the world. 

The Festival is not only determined to accomplish its primary mission of curating a diverse variety of film screenings, for film loving audiences, but will also provide young talented minds with the CineGouna Platform, a creative and business hub which will incubate two initiatives; CineGouna Springboard and CineGouna Bridge which will act as a link between filmmakers from the Arab world and their international counterparts through a series of round-tables, panels, workshops, and master-classes that will be held by experts and key players from the film industry.