# El Gouna Film Festival

The El Gouna Film Festival (GFF; Egyptian Arabic: مهرجان الجونة السينمائي) is an annual film festival established in 2017, held in the Red Sea resort town of El Gouna, Egypt. The event is hosted by the El Gouna Convention and Culture Centre. The festival focuses on storytelling trends, as well as emerging talents from Egypt and the rest of the world.

## Overview

The inaugural festival started September 22, 2017. The psychological thriller Scary Mother, by Georgian first-time director Ana Urushadze, took the Golden Star, the festival's top feature film competition prize. Oscar-winning actor-director Forest Whitaker was feted with a lifetime achievement award.

## Awards
### Feature Narrative Competition

* El Gouna Gold Star for a Narrative Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 50,000)
* El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 25,000)
* El Gouna Bronze Star Narrative Film
(Certificate, Trophy and USD 15,000)
* El Gouna Star for Best Arab Narrative Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 20,000)
* El Gouna Star for Best Actor
(Trophy and Certificate)
* El Gouna Star for Best Actress
(Trophy and Certificate)

### Feature Documentary Competition

* El Gouna Gold Star for a Documentary Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 30,000)
* El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 15,000)
* El Gouna Bronze Star Documentary Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 7,500)
* El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film
(Trophy, Certificate and USD 10,000)

## 2017 Winners
### Feature Narrative competition

Golden Star: Scary Mother, Ana Urushadze
Silver Star: The Insult, Ziad Dower
Bronze Star: Arrhythmia, Boris Khlebnikov
Golden Star for Best Arabic Feature Film: Photocopy, Tamer Ashry
Best Actress: Nadia Kounda, Volubilis
Best Actor: Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Zama
Cinema For Humanity Audience Award: Soufra, Thomas Morgan

### Documentary competition

Golden Star: I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck
Silver Star: Brimstone and Glory, Viktor Jakovleski
Bronze Star: Mrs Fang, Wang Bing
Golden Star For Best Arabic Documentary: I Have a Picture, Mohamed Zedan

### Short Film competition

Golden Star: Nightshade, Shady El-Hamus
Silver Star: Merry-Go-Round, Ruslan Bratov
Bronze Star: Mama Bobo, Robin Andelfinger and Ibrahima Seydi
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film: Punchline, Christophe M. Saber

## 2018 Winners
### Feature Narrative competition

Golden Star: A Land Imagined, Yeo Siew Hua
Silver Star: Ray & Liz, Richard Billingham
Bronze Star: The Heiresses, Marcelo Martinessi
El Gouna Star for Best Arabic Narrative Film: Yomeddine, A.B. Shawky
Special Mention: The Man Who Surprised Everyone, Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov
Best Actress: Joanna Kulig, Cold War
Best Actor: Mohamed Dhrif, Dear Son
Cinema for Humanity Audience Award: Another Day Of Life; Raúl De La Fuente, Damian Nenow and Yomeddine, A.B. Shawky (joint winners)

### Feature Documentary competition

Golden Star: Aquarela, Victor Kossakovsky
Silver Star: Of Fathers and Sons, Talal Derki
Bronze Star: The Swing, Cyril Aris
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film: Of Fathers and Sons, Talal Derki

### Short Film competition

Golden Star: Our Song To War, Juanita Onzaga
Silver Star: Judgement, Raymund Ribay Gutierrez
Bronze Star: Sheikh's Watermelons, Kaouther Ben Hania
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film: EyeBrows, Tamer Ashry

## 2019 Winners
### Feature Narrative competition

Golden Star: You Will Die at Twenty, Amjad Abu Alala
Silver Star: Corpus Christi, Jan Komasa
Bronze Star: Adam, Maryam Touzani
El Gouna Star for Best Arabic Narrative Film: Papicha, Mounia Meddour
Best Actress: Hend Sabry, Noura's Dream
Best Actor: Bartosz Bielenia, Corpus Christi
Cinema for Humanity Audience Award: Les Misérables, Ladj Ly
FIPRESCI Award: 1982, Oualid Mouaness

### Feature Documentary competition

Golden Star: Talking About Trees, Suhaib Gasmelbari
Silver Star: 143 Sahara Street, Hassen Ferhani
Bronze Star: Kabul, City in the Wind, Aboozar Amini
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film: Ibrahim: A Fate to Define, Lina Alabed
NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film: Kabul, City in the Wind, Aboozar Amini

### Short Film competition

Golden Star: Exam, Sonia K. Haddad
Silver Star: Ome, Wassim Geagea
Bronze Star: Flesh, Camila Kater
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film: Give Up the Ghost, Zain Duraie
Special Jury Mention: 16 December, Álvaro Gago Díaz

## 2021 Winners
### Feature Narrative competition

Golden Star: The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, Teemu Nikki
Silver Star: Sun Down, Michel Franco
Bronze Star: Captain Volkongov Escaped, Aleksey Chupov, Natasha Merkulova
El Gouna Star for Best Arabic Narrative Film: Feathers, Omar El Zohairy
Best Actress: Petri Poikolainen, Playground
Best Actor: Perri Poikonainen, The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic
Cinema for Humanity Audience Award: Ostrove: Lost Island, Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop
FIPRESCI Award: Costa Brava, Mounia Akl

### Feature Documentary competition

Golden Star: Life of Ivana, Renato Borrayo Serrano
Silver Star: Ostrov - Lost Island, Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop
Bronze Star: Sabaya, Hogir Hirori
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film: Captains of Za’atari, Ali El Arabi
NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film: Captain Volkongov Escaped, Aleksey Chupov, Natasha Merkulova

### Short Film competition

Golden Star: Katia, Andrey Natotcinskiy
Silver Star: Holy Son, Aliosha Massine
Bronze Star: On Solid Ground, Jela Hasler
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film: Cai-Ber, Ahmed Abdelsalam
Special Mention: actress Aisha Al Rifae for Nour Shams directed by Faiza Ambah

## Side events

Pitching Session: CinemaTech by Gemini Africa
Gemini Africa is an EgyptIan company extending into Africa and the Middle East for tech startups in an entrepreneurial pitching event under Cinematech’s track.
CinemaTech is the first entrepreneurial track bridging the gap between entrepreneurship and filmmaking, with the aim of uplifting the industry by injecting technological solutions offered by startups.