The selected projects will receive artistic and financial support from the CineGouna Platform.
The third edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, one of the leading festivals in the MENA region, will showcase several regional and international cinematic productions.
The selected projects will receive artistic and financial support from the CineGouna Platform.
This year, CineGouna SpringBoard, the platform’s project development and co-production lab, received 133 submissions (92 projects in development and 41 films in post-production).
A panel of experts have reviewed the submissions and selected 12 projects in development (seven narratives and five documentaries). The panel shortlisted six films in post-production (two narratives and four documentaries) based on their content, artistic vision, and overall financial feasibility.
El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) has announced the final list of selections representing various countries from the Arab world for the third edition of CineGouna SpringBoard.
Selected feature narrative projects in development include the Plum Season by Rim Mejdi (Morocco), Severed Head by Lotfi Achour (Tunisia), Straight to the Goal by Tamer Ashry (Egypt), Tunis -Djerba by Amel Guellaty (Tunisia), Harvest by Ely Dagher (Lebanon), It’s a Sad and Beautiful World by Cyril Aris (Lebanon), and Daughters of Abdul-Rahman by Zaid Abu Hamdan (Jordan).
Feature documentary projects in development include films such as The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by Mohamed Taher (Egypt), Those Who Remained by Lina Sinjab (Lebanon), Yalla, Baba! by Angie Obeid (Lebanon), Looking for Sa’adah by Areen Omari (Palestine), and Ethel by Mohamed Siam (Egypt).
The two feature narrative films in post-production are Another Day in Baghdad by Maysoon Pachachi (Iraq) and Mica by Ismaël Ferroukhi (Morocco).
The three selected documentary films in post-production are A Long Breath by Remi Itani (Lebanon), Captains of Za’atari by Ali El-Arabi (Egypt), Far from the Nile by Sherief Elkatsha (Egypt), and Our Dark 70s by Ali Essafi (Morocco).
The five alumnus projects of CineGouna Platform’s past editions went on to be screened at prestigious international film festivals.
Khartoum Offside (2019) by Marwa Zein and Talking About Trees (2019) by Suhaib Gasmelbari were presented at the 69th Berlinale, while Certified Mail (2019) by Hisham Saqr and 1982 (2019) by Oualid Mouaness were selected for the 44th Toronto International Film Festival, in addition to Noura’s Dream (2019) by Hinde Boujemaa, which will also be presented in the Discovery section of the 44th Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the New Directors section of the 67th San Sebastian International Film Festival.
