El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) wrapped up its 5th edition today with a closing ceremony that was held at El Gouna Conference and Culture Center (GCCC), in which the winning films were announced and received the GFF’s cash prizes, which amounted up to US $244,000.

Hosted by TV personality Jasmine Taha Zaky, the ceremony presented GFF's Career Achievement Award to Palestinian actor and director Mohammed Bakri. 

Moreover, Egyptian actress Elham Shahin took the stage to present a video commemorating the legacy of renowned late screenwriter Wahid Hamed, which contained expressions of gratitude from a number of stars and directors who worked with him, such as Egyptian superstar Youssra, and directors Marwan Hamed, Mohamed Yassin, and Tamer Mohsen who spoke about what makes Hamed’s writing stand out as well as his iconic characters along with clips from his most famed works.

Feature Narrative Competition

El Gouna Golden Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $50,000) went to The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic by Teemu Nikki.

El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $25,000) went to Sundown by Michel Franco.

El Gouna Bronze Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $15,000) went to Captain Volkonogov Escaped by Aleksey Chupov and Natalya Merkulova.

El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $20,000) went to Feathers by Omar El Zohairy.

El Gouna Star for the Best Actor (Trophy and Certificate) went to Petri Poikolainen for his role in The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic.

El Gouna Star for the Best Actress (Trophy and Certificate) went to Maya Vanderbeque for her role in Playground.

Feature Documentary Competition 

El Gouna Golden Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $30,000) went to Life of Ivanna by Renato Borrayo Serrano.

El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $15,000) went to Ostrov – Lost Island by Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop.

El Gouna Bronze Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $7,500) went to Sabaya by Hogir Hirori.

El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $10,000) went to Captains of Za’atari by Ali El Arabi.

Short Film Competition

El Gouna Golden Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $15,000) went to Katia by Andrey Natotcinskiy.

El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $7,500) went to Holy Son by Aliosha Massine.

El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $4,000) went to On Solid Ground by Jela Hasler.

El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film (Trophy, Certificate, and US $5,000) went to CAI-BER by Ahmed Abdelsalam.

Cinema for Humanity Audience Award

Given by GFF’s audience to a film that exemplifies humanitarian themes, the award (Trophy, Certificate, and US $20,000) went to Ostrov – Lost Island by Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop.

El Gouna Green Star Award

Given by GFF to films that highlight environmental issues, this award (El Gouna Green Star, Certificate, and US $10,000) went to Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl. In collaboration with Recycle for Tomorrow initiative, El Gouna Green Star Award was presented by Mohamed Shelbaya, CEO of PepsiCo Egypt.

NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film went to Captain Volkonogov Escaped by Aleksey Chupov and Natalya Merkulova.

Additionally, the NETPAC Award jury gave a Special Mention to Once Upon a Time in Calcutta by Aditya Vikram Sengupta.

The FIPRESCI Award for Best Debut Film went to Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl.

Last but not least, the Khaled Bichara Award for Egyptian Independent Filmmakers went to Adel by Dina Eleleimy. The award was presented by Galal Khaled Bichara who gave a speech about how he hopes his late father was proud of him.

El Gouna Film Festival

One of the leading festivals in the MENA region, GFF aims to showcase a wide variety of films for a passionate and knowledgeable audience, while fostering better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking. Its goal is to connect filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange. The festival is committed to the discovery of new voices and strives to be a catalyst for the development of cinema in the Arab world, especially through its industry hub CineGouna Platform.