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El Gouna Film Festival

El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) is one of the leading festivals in the MENA region and 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.

El Gouna Film Festival 2020 (4th edition) - Closing Ceremony and Awards

GFF Closing Ceremony Pic 10 400El Gouna Film Festival concluded its 4th edition on 30th of October 2020 with a closing ceremony that was held at the Gouna Conference and Culture Center, in which the winning films of the festival’s prizes, whose material value is about US $224,000, were announced. Media presenter and actress Nardine Farag (link) presented the event, and the exceptional Egyptian actor Khaled El Sawy (link) was honored and awarded a Career Achievement Award within the ceremony’s activities. El Sawy spoke about his happiness with this honor, especially that it comes from El Gouna Film Festival, which he considers one of the most important cinematic events in the entire Arab region. In addition, the Khaled Bichara Award for Independent Filmmakers in Egypt went to Hamlet from the Slums by Ahmed Fawzi-Saleh (link).The award will be awarded annually to support young Egyptian filmmakers, has been announced, with an estimated value of $10,000.
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As for the various official competition awards and their winners, they are as follows:

Feature Narrative Competition:

El Gouna Golden Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $50,000)
     Quo vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanic
El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $25,000)
     Bad Tales by Damiano D’Innocenzo and Fabio D’Innocenzo
El Gouna Bronze Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $15,000)
     In Between Dying by Hilal Baydarov
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $20,000)
     The Man Who Sold His Skin by Kaouther Ben Hania
El Gouna Star for Best Actor (Trophy, certificate)
     Ali Suliman, 200 Meters
El Gouna Star for Best Actress (Trophy, certificate)
    Jasna Duricic, Quo vadis, Aida?
Special Jury Mention
     Oasis by Ivan Ikic
 

Feature Documentary Competition:

El Gouna Golden Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $30,000)
     Days of Cannibalism by Teboho Edkins
El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $15,000)
     Softie by Sam Soko
El Gouna Bronze Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $7,500)
     Truffle Hunters by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $10,000)
     Their Algeria by Lina Soualem
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Short Film Competition:

El Gouna Golden Star for Short Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $15,000)
     Being My Mom by Jasmine Trinca
El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $7,500)
     Blue Frontier by Ivan Milosavljević
El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $4,000)
     Sër Bi by Moly Kane
El Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film (Trophy, certificate, and US $5,000)
     I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face by Sameh Alaa
 

Further Awards:

Cinema for Humanity Audience Award
The festival’s Audience Award for a film exemplifying humanitarian themes (Trophy, certificate, and US $20,000)
     200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh
NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film
     In Between Dying by Hilal Baydarov
FIPRESCI Award
     200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh
 
In addition, the first Khaled Bichara Award for Independent Filmmakers in Egypt went to Hamlet from the Slums by Ahmed Fawzi-Saleh. The latest addition to the El Gouna Film Festival prizes will be granted annually to support young Egyptian filmmakers, with an estimated value of US $10,000.
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CineGouna SpringBoard Announces the Winners of its Fourth Edition on the Seventh Day of El Gouna Film Festival

927 GFF 2020 Winners 7 400 x 400Through its CineGouna Platform, El Gouna Film Festival continues to empower Arab filmmakers in their quest to acquiring artistic and financial support. This business and industry-oriented event provides CineGouna SpringBoard and CineGouna Bridge, offering opportunities for learning and experience sharing.
Within the activities of the seventh day of the festival, October 29, 2020, the closing ceremony of CineGouna Platform was held at the Festival Plaza, where the committee announced the winning projects and films.
For its 4th edition, CineGouna SpringBoard received 99 submissions (65 projects in development and 34 films in post-production) from all parts of the Arab world. A panel of experts reviewed the submissions and made a selection of 12 projects in development (9 narratives and 3 documentaries) and 6 films in post-production (5 narratives and 1 documentary) on the basis of their content, artistic vision, and overall financial feasibility.
Competing directors and producers have submitted their projects and films to producers, sponsoring institutions, distributors, film sellers and festivals programmers, for their technical advice. In addition, one-on-one meetings were held between filmmakers, industry experts and consultants to develop scenarios or incomplete versions of films and enhance opportunities for regional and international cooperation. The CineGouna SpringBoard jury consisted of Clément Chautant, French sales agent and Head of Festivals at the Paris-based company Indie Sales, Lebanese director and producer Dima Al-Joundi, and Jordanian writer, director and producer Layali Badr.
Goodbye Julia by Mohamed Kordofani (Sudan) won the prize for best project in development (CineGouna Platform Certificate and a cash prize of US $15,000); and Life Suits Me Well by Al Hadi Ulad Mohand (Morocco) received the prize for best film in post-production (CineGouna Platform Certificate and a cash prize of US $15,000).
 

CineGouna SpringBoard Sponsorship prizes:

Hamlet from the Slums by Ahmed Fawzi-Saleh (Egypt) received a prize of $20,000 from Shahid and a prize of $10,000 from Sparkle Media Services, as well as participation in the Film Independent Virtual Residency award from Film Independent and The U.S. Embassy, in addition to participation in one of IEFTA's partner development lab or workshop from IEFTA.
Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem (Palestine, France) won a $10,000 prize from iProductions, a $10,000 prize from Synergy Films, and $10,000 from Dakhli West El Balad by Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment.
Hajj to Disney by Maha Al-Saati (Saudi Arabia) received a $10,000 prize from Arab Radio & Television Network (ART); and Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo by Khaled Mansour (Egypt) won a prize of $10,000 from Rotana, and another $10,000 from Lagoonie Film Production.
A $10,000 prize from New Century Production, a $30,000 prize fund— a minimum guarantee from MAD Solutions & Ergo Media Ventures, and a $10,000 prize from Sparkle Media Services also went to Goodbye Julia by Mohamed Kordofani (Bahrain, Sudan). On the other hand, Streams by Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia) received $10,000 from Weyyak. I Am Here But You Can't See Me by Feyrouz Serhal (Lebanon, Spain) was granted $80,000 worth of production services from Shahid.
The Maiden's Pond by Bassem Breche (Lebanon) received an award in the form of $50,000 pre-sale from OSN; and Life Suits Me Well by Al Hadi Ulad Mohand (Morocco) won a $10,000 worth of a full DCP package from The Cell Post Production, and $30,000 worth of VFX services from Mercury Visual Solutions. Another $10,000 worth of a full film promotions package from The Cell Post Production went to Communion by Nejib Belkadhi (Tunisia).
The feature documentary film in development Big Boys Don't Cry by Muhammad Mustapha (Egypt) received a participation in the Film Independent Virtual Residency presented by Film Independent and The U.S. Embassy; ​​while the feature documentary Take Me to The Cinema by Albaqer Jafeer (Iraq, Egypt) received an editing residency for a period of up to 10 weeks coupled with tailor-made consultancy sessions from DOX BOX. Finally, The Day Of Arafah by Ala'a Al Qaisi (Jordan) won a participation in IEFTA's Global Film Expression initiative, presented by IEFTA.
CineGouna SpringBoard is a project development and co-production lab that offers opportunities to find creative and financial support for Arab film directors and producers with projects in development or films in post-production. It received long-form fictional and documentary projects in development, and post-production films that were submitted at the specified submission time
 
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