The Red Sea resort town of El Gouna has swapped beach bars for red carpets this week, as the El Gouna Film Festival opened its ninth edition on Thursday, 15 October. Running until 23 October, the nine-day event pulls Egyptian and international cinema figures into one of Egypt's most polished coastal towns for 77 films, panel discussions and a busy industry programme.
This year carries the theme Cinema for Humanity: Archiving Narratives — a focus on how film documents human experience and keeps collective memory alive. It's a fitting banner for a festival that has, since launching in 2017, built its reputation on bridging Arab cinema with the international scene rather than simply staging glamour on the sand.
The opening ceremony handed out some notable honours. Egyptian actress Mona Zaki received the Creative Achievement Award for a career nearing three decades, presented in a surprise turn by director Mohamed Shaker Khodeir. Lighting specialist Hassan El Sayed, with roughly forty years behind the scenes, was also recognised — a rare nod to the technical craftspeople the industry runs on. Actress Yasmina El Abd hosted the evening, which wrapped with musical numbers from composer Mohamed Nawar drawing on Egyptian and international film scores.
On the screening side, the festival opened with All About Corrine, a French comedy-drama from director Marc Fitoussi starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain, about an aspiring actress chasing recognition. Egyptian entries are well represented: Mohammed Hammad's Safe Exit competes in the Feature Narrative Competition, following a young Coptic security guard in Cairo confronting childhood trauma through an unlikely friendship. Yellow Letters and Fatherland also screen, alongside several films exploring Palestinian experiences.
Two new industry initiatives are worth noting. CineGouna Series extends the festival's existing development platform into television, aiming to connect Arab series creators with commissioners and producers. And Safe Harbour MENA, launched with the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the International Emerging Film Talent Fund, will support filmmakers who have been displaced or face threats to their safety — a meaningful expansion of the festival's remit.
For travellers, this is a good reminder that El Gouna is more than a diving and kitesurfing base. The purpose-built resort town, about 30 kilometres north of Hurghada, has lagoon-side promenades, a walkable downtown and a calendar of cultural events that peaks in October. Even if you miss the festival dates, visiting during the same window means warm shoulder-season weather, thinner crowds than European high summer, and a town at its most lively. Film fans could plan a trip around the tenth edition; everyone else can simply enjoy the marinas, reefs and Red Sea sun while the town still has a buzz about it.
