Cairo, Egypt; 12 April, 2018 –El Gouna Film Festival is now accepting submissions of films for its
second edition, scheduled to take place in El Gouna, Egypt, from September 20-28, 2018. Film
submissions are invited for the Feature Narrative Competition; Feature Documentary Competition
and Short Film Competition with the deadline for submission set to be July 22,2018.
Selected films compete for prizes totalling $220.000; juries from eminent film personalities and
cinema professionals will select the winners in each category, each of the three competition
categories 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.
Intishal Al Timimi, Festival Director, added: “The call for submission will give us access to cinematic
works that might otherwise escape our attention.  During our first edition we had an outstanding
line-up of films and we expect the submissions to be equally if not stronger this year. Our endeavour
is to explore innovative forms of cinematic expressions and discover new talent”.
Once submissions are complete, the programming team of the El Gouna Film Festival will preview all
eligible films and aim to 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.

A minimum of a five person Feature Narrative Competition Jury will grant the following awards
which will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film:
•    El Gouna Golden Star for a Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate and $50,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate and $25,000)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star Narrative Film (Certificate, Trophy and $15,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate and $20,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Actor (Trophy and certificate)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Actress (Trophy and certificate)
A five person Feature Documentary Competition Jury will grant the following awards which will be
shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film:
•    El Gouna Golden Star for a Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate and $30,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate and $15,000)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate and $7,500)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate and $10,000)

A five person Short Films Competition Jury will grant the following awards,

all prizes, including the cash awards, will be awarded to the director of the winning film:
•    El Gouna Golden Star for Best Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and $15,000)
•    El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and $7,500)
•    El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and $4,000)
•    El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and $5,000)
In addition to the above mentioned awards, El Gouna Film Festival will be offering an audience
choice award titled ‘Cinema for Humanity’ to eligible films from the feature narrative, feature
documentary and official selection out of competition. Winner of the ‘Cinema for Humanity’ award
will receive a trophy, a certificate and $20,000.
"During El Gouna Film Festival, not only do we focus on presenting the most important films of the
year by acclaimed directors, we’re also focused on opening doors for new films that are yet to be
discovered by the world and for our audience to see and enjoy these films through our program. Our
first edition included submissions that were filled with new discoveries and during our second
edition we will aim to keep shedding the light on these promising experiences" said El Gouna Film
Festival Artistic Director Amir Ramses.
Only films completed after 15 December 2017 are eligible. Preference will be given to World and
International premieres. The conditions of eligibility have been announced in the detailed Rules and
Regulations.