Why Was El Gouna Film Festival Postponed?
The delay is in alignment with the El Gouna Film Festival 2023 theme, ‘Cinema For Humanity’
Initially set to take place on October 13 in Egypt, the sixth edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) has officially been postponed for a second time. According to an official statement released by GFF, management has ordered that the festival be rescheduled “in light of the deeply troubling circumstances resulting in the loss of innocent lives.”
This constitutes the second postponement of GFF’s sixth edition, which had already gotten delayed in 2022 “in view of current global challenges” and in order to strengthen the festival both artistically and organisationally.
Courtesy of @elgounafilmfestivalofficial
Is El Gouna Film Festival Cancelled?
As things stand, the largest film festival in the MENA region is confirmed to take place from October 27 until November 2, 2023. The official statement reads, “The GFF team remains committed to hosting the festival, using this opportunity to reinforce and amplify our central theme, ‘Cinema for Humanity.'”
Courtesy of @elgounafilmfestivalofficial
What Can We Expect at GFF 2023?
Presented by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and founded by Naguib Sawiris in 2017, the pioneering film festival seeks to honour Arab cinema on a global scale whilst showcasing a wide array of international films that satisfy the eclectic tastes of cinephiles across the globe.
In addition to celebrating seasoned filmmakers, GFF offers emerging talent in the MENA region the opportunity to submit their own films and subsequently showcase their craft to a well-versed, international audience of cinema aficionados. Courtesy of GFF’s trailblazing CineGouna Platform, Egyptian and Arab filmmakers are granted artistic and financial support – materially bridging the gap between regional and international filmmakers in the spirit of cultural exchange.
Courtesy of @elgounafilmfestivalofficial
Festival Director Intishal Al Timimi has previously expressed her gratitude to renowned personalities Youssra, Hend Sabry, Tarek Ben Ammar, Yousry Nasrallah, Abderrahmane Sissako, and Atiq Rahimi for contributing to the festival’s success since its genesis.
In total, GFF will feature a diverse selection of over 47 films: 14 films in the Feature Narrative Competition, 12 films in the Feature Documentary Competition, and 21 films in the Short Film Competition – among other films as part of the Special Presentations and Official Selection Out of Competition sections.
It is worth mentioning that 163 phenomenal film submissions by aspiring filmmakers were received, and after thorough deliberation, the esteemed GFF committee selected 20 exceptional projects in the sixth edition of CineGouna Springboard.
The spectacular lineup includes highly acclaimed films such as Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet; On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert; The Strange Path by Guto Parente; The Buriti Flower by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora; The Echo by Tatiana Huezo; May December by Todd Haynes; Obscure Night – Goodbye Here, Anywhere by Sylvain Georges; The Shadowless Tower by Zhang Lu; and Youth by Wang Bing.
A few notable mentions by aspiring filmmakers are All to Play for by Delphine Deloget; Dreaming & Dying by Nelson Yeo; Family Portrait by Lucy Kerr; If Only I Could Hibernate by Zoljargal Purevdash; Lost Country by Vladimir Perisic; Scrapper by Charlotte Regan; Stepne by Maryna Vroda; Totem by Lila Aviles; Whispers of Fire & Water by Lubdhak Chatterjee; and White Plastic Sky by Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó.
For more information on GFF, set to take place on October 27, please visit their website.
Lead image courtesy of @elgounafilmfestivalofficial