Egypt’s El Gouna Film Fest Wraps MENA Focused 7th Edition As Region’s Indie Filmmakers Decouple From West
deadline.comThe seventh edition of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival wrapped over the weekend with the $50,000 top prize going to French director Jonathan Millet’s Syrian drama Ghost Trail, and its star Adam Bessa winning Best Actor (see below for full awards list).
Launched in 2017 by Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris in the Red Sea resort of El Gouna, created by his brother Samih Sawiris, the festival’s early years were characterized by glitzy red carpets and parties and Hollywood guests such as Owen Wilson, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal and Patrick Dempsey.
The festival has toned down the bling and glitz in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, sparked by the latter’s October 7 attack on southern Israel which killed more than 1,100 people, and resulted in the abduction of 253 people.
With the death toll in Gaza now topping 43,000 people alongside dire warnings from aid agencies that the 2.5M population risks famine due to Israeli restrictions on food supplies, the mood remains tense in the region.
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