CineGouna SpringBoard announces its 6th edition
More than $380.000 of cash and services awards given to 20 participating Arab projects
Cairo, October 4, 2023
El Gouna Film Festival announces the sixth edition of CineGouna SpringBoard, the festival’s project development and co-production platform.
CineGouna SpringBoard received more than 160 submissions from all parts of the Arab world. A committee of experts reviewed the submissions and selected 13 projects in development (7 narratives and 6 documentaries) and 7 films in post-production (2 narratives and 5 documentaries). The selected projects that represent 9 Arab countries, will be competing for cash and in-kind awards, whose sum exceeds 380.000 USD.
The directors and producers of the selected projects listed above will present their projects and works in progress to producers, funding agencies, distributors, sales agents, and festival programmers to receive constructive feedback. In addition, private meetings are scheduled for the filmmakers with experts and mentors to help them fine-tune their scripts or rough cuts, with the aim of improving their chances of regional and international cooperation. All selected projects in development and films in post-production will compete for awards to be decided by a jury of industry experts.
CineGouna SpringBoard 2023 jury will be composed of Tunisian producer Habib Attia, French producer Guillaume de Seille, in addition to Egyptian director and screenwriter Hala Khalil.
The best project in development and film in post-production will receive a CineGouna Platform certificate and a cash prize of US $15,000 each. Additional awards and cash prizes are presented through partnerships with local, regional, and international institutions (The full list of awards is at the end of the statement)
Three cinema experts will mentor the selected projects, through direct supervision sessions in which the expert develops the capabilities of the filmmakers. The experts for the 6th CineGouna SpringBoard are Egyptian director Jihan El Tahri, French producer Marie Balducchi, and Palestinian director Najwa Najjar.
Intishal Al Tamimi, Director of El Gouna Film Festival, spoke about the 6th CineGouna SpringBoard, saying: “We initially had concerns about the impact of the economic situation on the enthusiasm of partners and film institutions to support the projects participating in CineGouna SpringBoard, but we were surprised by the large turnout that brought the sum of awards to a record compared to all previous editions, which will certainly contribute to helping projects and supporting Arab cinema in general.”
Here is the line-up of selected projects of CineGouna SpringBoard 2023:
Projects in Development:
Feature Narrative:
A Tale of a Feather and a Fish directed by Ahmed El-Hawarey, produced by Hala Lotfy (Egypt)
Assa, a Fish in a Bowl directed by Dahlia Nemlich, produced by Marine Vaillant (Lebanon, France, Denmark)
Eldorado the Taste of the South directed by Alaa Eddine Aljem, produced by Francesca Duca, Louise Bellicaud and Claire Gervais (Morocco, France, Italy)
Girl of Wind directed by Moufida Fedhila, produced by Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia)
So the Lovers Could Come Out Again directed by George Peter Barbari, produced by Christelle Younes (Lebanon)
Specters of Alhoot directed by Ahmad Mahmoud, produced by Mohammed Alomda and Ahmad Mahmoud (Sudan)
Yammi directed by Hinde Boujemaa, produced by Hinde Boujemaa, Caroline Houben, François D'Artemare and Lina Chaabane (Tunisia, Belgium, France)
Feature Documentary:
Crocodopolis directed by Omar Manjouneh, produced by Laura Kloeckner and Kesmat Elsayed (Egypt, Germany, USA)
In the Name of Safia directed by Safia Kessas, produced by Isabelle Truc, Camille Laemlé (Belgium, France)
The 4 Choices of Albert directed and produced by Hala Galal (Egypt)
The Beach Boys directed by Dima El-Horr, produced by Sabine Sidawi (Lebanon, France)
Theft of Fire directed by Amer Shomali, produced by Rashid Abdelhamid (Palestine, Canada, France)
A Yemeni Documentary Project
Films in Post-Production:
Feature Narrative:
Spring Came on Laughing directed by Noha Adel, produced by Kawthar Younis (Egypt, France)
Tunis-Djerba directed by Amel Guellaty, produced by Asma Chiboub and Karim Aïtouna (Tunisia, France, Qatar)
Feature Documentary
Land of Women directed by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir, produced by Ayman El Amir (Egypt, France, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
She Was Not Alone directed by Hussein Al-Asadi, produced by Huda Al Kadhimi and Huma Gupta (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, USA)
The Last Man directed by Mohamed Salah, produced by Mark Lotfy (Egypt, Canada)
Suspended - Diaries from Lebanon directed by Myriam El Hajj, produced by Myriam Sassine and Carine Ruszniewski (Lebanon, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart directed by Hind Meddeb, produced by Abel Nahmias, Michel Zana, Alice Ormières and Tao Guiga (France, Tunisia)
