Additionally, the 2021 Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Kids Award winner Belle by Mamoru Hasoda, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his film Mirai, was screened.

Moreover, today was the first day of the 2nd edition of Sunbird Stories, with the partnership of El Gouna Film Festival and Filmlab Palestine. In addition to this, GFF’s CineGouna Platform hosted a collaborative panel discussion with Medfest Egypt, which was titled Breathe, Talk, Perform: A Take on Psychological Well-being of Actors, which discussed the mental health of actors. Panelists include Egyptian screenwriter Mariam Naoum, actors Mohamed Farrag, Ahmed Malek, and May Elghety, as well as consultant psychiatrist Dr. Nabil Elkot. The panel is set to be moderated by Dr. Mina El Naggar, founder and managing director of Medfest Egypt.

The activities of the sixth day of the 5th edition of El Gouna Film Festival, which will be held on October 20, 2021.

Tomorrow marks the sixth day of GFF’s 5th edition, which will include a unique variety of activities and screenings, including the screening of Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl, which was nominated for the 2021 Venice International Film Festival’s Armani Beauty Audience Award and won the NETPAC Prize at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film’s red carpet will start at 5:30 p.m. with its screening beginning at 6:30 p.m. at El Gouna Conference and Culture Center.

A part of GFF’s Feature Narrative Competition, another Lebanese film, The Sea Is Ahead by winner of the 2015 Short Film Palme d’Or for Waves 98 Ely Dagher. The film will be screened at 9:45 p.m. with its red carpet beginning at 8:45 p.m. at El Gouna Conference and Culture Center.

 Additionally, tomorrow’s lineup includes the screening of the Official Selection out of Competition’s Happening by Audrey Diwan, winner of the 2021 Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion. The film will be screened at Sea Cinema at 9:15 p.m.

Regarding the day’s events, tomorrow the 2nd edition of Sunbird Stories continues with Filmlab Palestine: Pitching Session and Awards, as part of GFF’s partnership with Filmlab Palestine. Sunbird Stories will work on the development of five narrative short films, shortlisted from a number of submitted projects, by emerging Arab filmmakers in the genre of children, teens, family and coming of age stories. The Filmlab Palestine: Pitching Session and Awards will take place at TU Berlin and will start from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

CineGouna Platform will also host a masterclass titled A Masterclass by Stefan Grambart on Immersive Storytelling. The masterclass will take participants through the creative process of working in immersive storytelling. With examples from the interactive web, immersive installations, games, and virtual reality, Stefan Grambart will use case studies from his Emmy award-winning career in digital media to explore how to adapt to nonlinear storytelling and embrace audience agency. The event will be hosted at TU Berlin’s Audimax hall at 12:30 p.m.

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.