El Gouna Film Festival Announces Two of its
Egyptian Selections for 2024
Cairo,
September 11th, 2024
The El
Gouna Film Festival (GFF) is
thrilled to announce the first two Egyptian films selected to participate in
the 7th edition of the festival: The Brink of Dreams by Nada Riyadh
and Ayman El Amir, which will be part of the Documentary Feature Competition,
and The
Inevitable Journey to Find a Wedding Dress by Jaylan Auf, which will
compete in the Narrative Feature Competition.
The Brink
of Dreams, whose makers are alumni of CineGouna
Funding (formerly CineGouna Springboard) at the 6th edition of GFF won the Golden Eye Documentary
Prize at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, thus becoming the first Egyptian movie
to receive this prestigious award. The film tells the story of a group of girls
in a small village in Upper Egypt who form a theater troupe that roams the
streets in defiance of the traditions of their conservative environment.
Nada
Riyadh, the film’s director, said, “After the world premiere of the film at the
Cannes Film Festival, and amidst an ongoing journey to showcase the film at
various international festivals, we are filled with joy and pride that the MENA
premiere of our film will take place at the El Gouna Film Festival. GFF has embraced our movie since it was
a project in the post-production stage as part of the CineGouna Funding last year.”
Ayman El
Amir, the co-director, added, “We are excited to present our film, which stems
from the heart of Upper Egypt and showcases heroines who have enchanted
festival audiences everywhere. We view the El
Gouna Film Festival as an important initial step before our film's wider
release in movie theaters throughout Egypt soon.”
As for the
feature narrative film, The Inevitable Journey to Find a Wedding
Dress, it tells
the story of a bride named Warda who searches for a white dress on her wedding
eve, which leads her
to rediscover the metropolis and her relationship with it.
"True
to its name, this film has been a rollercoaster journey for its characters to
find a wedding dress and for us, its filmmakers, to make it and see its magic
unfolding on the screen. It is our
pleasure that the film gets its world premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival,” says Jaylan Auf, the film’s director.
The 7th
edition of the El Gouna Film Festival will take place between October 24th and
November 1, 2024.
THE BRINK OF DREAMS - رفعت عيني للسما
MENA
Premiere
Feature Documentary Competition
Won
the Golden Eye Documentary Prize at the 77th Cannes Film Festival
Director: Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir
Country: Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Synopsis:
In a remote village in southern
Egypt, a group of girls rebel by forming an all-female street theater troupe.
They dream of becoming actresses, dancers, and singers, challenging their
families and villagers with their unexpected performances.
THE INEVITABLE JOURNEY TO FIND A
WEDDING DRESS - الفستان الأبيض
World
Premiere
Feature Narrative Competition
Cast: Yasmin Raeis, Asmaa
Galal, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, Salwa Mohamed Ali
Director: Jaylan Auf
Country: Egypt
Synopsis:
Warda’s frantic search for a
wedding dress on the eve of the ceremony becomes a journey of self-discovery
challenging her relationship with Cairo and herself.
About El Gouna Film Festival
One of the leading festivals in the
MENA region, GFF aims to showcase a wide variety of films from around the
world, with emphasis on Arab cinema, for a passionate and knowledgeable
audience, while fostering better communication between cultures through the art
of filmmaking.
The festival’s goal is to connect
filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit
of cooperation and cultural exchange.
Moreover, it aims to promote and support the industry's growth in the
region and provide a platform for filmmakers to showcase their work in addition
to discovering new voices and talents.
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